


THE LADY AND THE SMUGGLER (A STAR WARS STORY)

by junktom



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Empire, Gen, Imperial Army, Imperial Force, Millenium Falcon, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Destroyer, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Story, TIE-Fighter, imperial - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 30,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21732274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junktom/pseuds/junktom
Summary: By the end of the Clone War, the newly formed Galactic Empire continued to expend its power, reaching toward the outer rim of the galaxy for beneficial resources. Many worlds that once lived in peace had surrendered to hard labor, feeding the Empire what they need, others lost their homes and families. A young princess who lost everything, cross path with a retired racer turned smuggler, travel across the lawless galaxy to find what they have lost...





	1. The Attack

**Author's Note:**

> INTRODUCTION
> 
> This story took place in the STAR WARS universe, shortly after REVENGE OF THE SITH, but long before SOLO. I wanted it to be a stand-alone story, so I tried respectfully to keep as little interact with the original series as possible. This story was written for my own pleasure, and is to be share among those who prefers a different look of the SW universe (away from the big scale battles and Jedi force for a change).
> 
> Like many SW fans, I was fascinated by the movie series as a child, but I didn’t follow all the franchise tv shows, animation, books and articles that related to the series (official or not), so please bear with me if my story contradicts with the originals, and I’ll apologize in advance if my book violates any image or copyrights. I’m not familiar with rules and regulation in the writing profession, I just a guy who put imaginations to paper, so please go easy on me! ;)
> 
> For those who like to read more of my SW universe stories, or share your opinions, or correct me on grammar or advices, please feel free to write to my e-mail below. Thank you so much for your supports!
> 
> junktom51@hotmail.com.hk
> 
> Yours truly, Thomas Chan / T. P. Channing

Chapter 1: The Attack  
By the end of the Clone War, the newly formed Galactic Empire continued to expend its power, reaching toward the outer rim of the galaxy for beneficial resources. Many worlds that once lived in peace had surrendered to hard labor, feeding the Empire what they need, others lost their homes and families. Today planet Darliya suffered the same inevitable fate.

Yawen Delavigne, the youngest of the Delavigne bloodline, had made a near escaped from such attack. General Nobi Delavigne, Royal Guard and kin to the Grand King, had sworn under oath to protect his granddaughter in every way possible, carried young Yawen onto his speeder under her protest, and made a near escape before the palace was took over.

“Let go off me! I want to see my father!” The young princess screamed, kicking and punching the great body that carried her.

The King is dead! The retired general wished he could say, but he just couldn't bring the dreadful news to the young girl.

Nobi steered the ship out of the courtyard, tipped the nose and made a vertical takeoff, behind him a team of TIE fighters spotted and pursued.

A speeder was made for sport, built with light materials for high speed maneuvers, it had no armament, and was definitely outnumbered by the Imperial TIE fighters. Unlike the old Republic fighters, these new H-wings attack fighters were much smaller and faster, they fired with precision, causing the speeder great damage.

Nobi may have been a racer in his youth, but he took a blast saving Yawen, his lower abdomen suffered severe burns from the Storm Trooper's blaster, he could barely sit up on the pilot seat.

He has survived enough battles know that his wound was fatal. Death doesn't fear me! Nobi thought, but breaking an oath does! He turned and looked at young Yawen, eleven years old trembling in her ballroom dress. It was supposed to be their National Day, with long parties planned ahead, but now she lost everything; her family, her crown, her kingdom. He CANNOT die leaving her like this!

WARNING! HYPER DRIVE FAILURE! LIGHT SPEED UNABLE! The ship's computer responded to another heavy blast.

Losing light speed would make them an easy target, it's only a matter of time before the TIE fighters catch up and have them surrounded.

Think old general! THINK!

Looking out the cockpit he saw a sea of stars, so many yet so far to reach.

Not that far! He suddenly remembered.

There was an abandoned asteroid field not far away, where they used to train pilots in close space combat.

“Out run this you bastards!” he cursed.

He steered the speeder deep into the field, where bigger asteroids were once mined for minerals, left behind mazes of caves and tunnels. He took one at random, and then turned into a sub tunnel, settled into a dark pocket.

A dozen TIE fighters entered the asteroid field in pursue of the last bloodline, followed by an Imperial cruiser.

Nobi shut down all systems, leaving only life support, putting the speeder in complete silent. Only then the wounded general climbed out of his seat and walked staggeringly to the rear where the princess was sitting.

“We don't have much time now.” He panted weakly, tried not to scare the young princess more than she was already experiencing.  
“Uncle Nobi…” Yawen wept.  
“I've set a course to Mirron. It's my mother's home planet. The ship will take you there …”  
“Uncle Nobi, please don't leave me!” Her uncle has always been a symbol to the brave. Seeing him like this made her feel even more vulnerable.  
“You are the last of the Delavigne! Protect it! Stay alive no matter what happens! You are our people's only hope!”

He took a last look at Yawen, raised his burned fingers to fix a lock of hair over her ear. It only seemed like yesterday when she was just a baby.

“You look so much like your mother…”

With that, the old general die in her laps.

WARNING! UNIDENTIFIED SHIP APPROACHING! The ship's computer reported, its autopilot went online. PROGRAM ACTIVATED, START ENGINE FOR EVASIVE MANEUVER.

“No!” Yawen cried. “They'll hear us!”  
COMMAND UNCOMPUTE, PLEASE INSTRUCT AGAIN.  
“Shut down! Shut down! Be quiet!” Yawen ran up to the cockpit, punching every button trying to shut it down.

Right outside the windshield, further end of the tunnel spilled in a beam of light, behind it a silhouette of a TIE fighter creeping in slowly.

“Engine movement.” A crew on the Imperial cruiser reported.  
“Location?” His captain demanded.  
“Signal bearing zero-two-zero, relay from one of the fighters, sir.”  
“Are they sure it's them?”  
“Confirming sir.”  
“Take us in, block them.” ordered the captain.

The Imperial cruiser followed the coordinates and made its way into the mine tunnel. These tunnels were bore to dock mineral freighters the size of Star Destroyers, a cruiser can easily maneuver inside.

Yawen horribly realized her mistake, punching buttons at random turned the exterior lights on and off, drawing the TIE fighter's attention. She hid behind the pilot seat at instinct, as if she could be unseen.

ENGINE READY. The computer reported.  
“Shut up! Shut up!” Yawen whispered as if to a person.

The search light landed on the speeder, flooding into the cockpit.

“No! No! No!” Yawen cried in panic, knowing this would be the end, she closed her eyes and waited for the strike.

Suddenly a flash of red beam shot pass the windshield, knocking the TIE fighters aside, it's search light burst into sparks and died.

Yawen peeped out from behind the seat, a ship flew over her, rushing out of the tunnel, followed by another one, then another.

“Who's firing? Who's firing?” The captain asked.  
“Not sure, sir!” The young crew reported in confusion.

Looking out of the bridge, swamps of ships in all shapes and sizes, flooding out from the caves around them.

“Smugglers!” The captain cursed. “Don't let them leave!”  
“Sir! There must be hundreds of them!”  
“Shoot them down! Do anything!”

The Royal speeder lifted off, followed the flow of traffic out of the tunnel, and came up just beneath the Imperial cruiser. A TIE fighter spotted it and opened fire.

“Hey! Who's flying autopilot with that R7 speeder?” A pilot looked out his cockpit and asked.  
“Forget it man! Run for your life!” A radio responded.  
“No way! That one worth a fortune!” argued the pilot. “Vika, synchronize the speeder!”  
PROCEED SYNCHRONIZATION. His ship computer responded.

WARNING! FOREIGN HACKING ATTEMPT. The speeder reported.  
“Get us out of here!” Yawen cried, trying to communicate with a machine, holding on as the speeder took another shot.

“Hey! Stop firing at my ship!” The pilot yelled, as if the TIE fighter can hear him.

They were almost at the exit, just a few seconds away before the speeder could make clearance and jump to hyperspace, and then he'll lose it forever.

He slipped his ship underneath the smaller TIE fighter and pulled up, forcing it off its course. The TIE fighter caught between the big freighter below and the cave ceiling above and, BOOM! Crushed between the two.

“Sorry!” The pilot yelled out the window.

WARNING! SYSTEM BREACHED! MAINFRAME ARRR TAAA CU OR … The computer's voice broken.  
“What's happening? What's going on?” Yawen cried in confusion.  
SYS OVER AR UNABLE… The voice continued to crack, followed by a change of interior lighting. What was illuminated by red warning lights turned into milky green.

THANK YOU FOR USING VIKA SYSTEM. A softer, feminine voice reported. PLEASE STAND BY FOR LIGHT SPEED.

Without further warning, what was dark space outside the cockpit glowed, as millions of stars stretched into blinding beams, so much and so fast the view became blurry, became hyperspace.


	2. Finders, Keepers

Chapter 2: Finders, Keepers  
The new computer has put the speeder into complete lockdown, every switch, every voice-activation not responded. Yawen caught locked in her own ship, there was nothing she could do but mourn.

She laid her uncle's body flat on the floor, buttoned up his collar, and wiped his face clean with her sleeve. Finally she removed her cape and covered him. She couldn't save him, but at least she could let him die with dignity.

YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION. THANK YOU FOR FLYING WITH VIKA SYSTEM. The long forgotten voice returned.

Outside the window, light beams came to a stop, they have arrived a big yellow planet. She looked out the side window and saw the oval shaped ship flying parallel to them, it was this ship that was towing her through hyperspace.

The view of the planet became hazy as they approached, then she realized that it was not haze, but a sea of space junks floating in orbit. Broken satellites, pieces of ships and scraps, so many they had formed a visible layer, covering the planet below.

They did not descent to the planet as she expected, but flew amount the layer of space junk, until finally reached what looked like a trash duster, or at least a part of it.

She had seen trash dusters in her own planet, giant automated machines that collect space trash to recycle. This one was completely out of service, with its thrusters stolen and heat shields removed, only a few compartments remained, but still big enough to contain both vehicles.

DOCKING COMPLETE. The voice announced after a heavy shook. LOCKDOWN DISABLE.

The interior lighting restored, the door slipped open with a hissed. A tall figure stepped in, armed with a gun in one hand. He scanned the interior and found the dead man on the floor.

“Vika, you said one life sign.”  
AFFIRMATIVE, ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED. The voice responded.  
“This one's dead.”  
AFFIRMATIVE, ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED. The voice repeated.  
“You ought to recalibrate your sensors. It's getting rusty.”  
SENSOR ARRAY LAST UPDATED TWO TWO THREE ZERO SEVEN…  
“Be quiet!” The man called in annoyance.

He pointed his gun toward the covered body. It wasn't the first time someone play dead and then jump up with a gun. The body on the floor had its hands covered, one could be well armed underneath that sheet.

“Get up!” He called out and kicked the leg. “Get up or I'll shoot!”

The body remained motionless. He used the tip of his boots to kick away the cover, finding the dead general underneath.

“Don't touch him!” A girl popped out from the cockpit seat and ran to him.

Yawen found herself at gunpoint, but she didn't care anymore. She has lost enough for one day, stood strong before the big man and yelled:

“He was a highly respectable general! You leave him alone!”  
“Who are you?” asked the man with a gun.  
“I'm …” Yawen swallowed. You are the last of the Delavigne! Protect it! Her uncle's voice came. “I’m Auri, the general's servant.” Auri was her own servant girl, who died protecting her in the attack.

“Servant girl, eh?” His eyes narrowed at her gown and headwear. “You dressed pretty rich for a servant girl.”  
“I … my master gave it to me.”

The man was in his forties, his eyes deep but sharp, his stared intimidated her.

“All right servant girl, what happened?”  
“We… we were attacked. The general…”  
“I don’t care.” He cut her off. “Whoever you are, get out of my ship!”  
“Your ship?”  
“Yeah! I’m commandeering this ship and get it ready for sell. Unless you wanna be sold too, either way it’s fine by me.”  
“You can’t do this!” Yawen cried. First her family, then her planet, now her ship…  
“D’you wanna argue about this?” He waved the gun in his hand.

Under thread, Yawen was escorted out of the speeder at gun point.

“What are you going to do with the general?” Yawen asked.  
“Can’t bring back the dead, kid.” said the man behind her. “Better just leave them behind.”  
“But, I mean, shouldn’t we do something with his body?”  
“Sure! We’re gonna blast him out to space before he starts to smell.”  
“NO!” Yawen turned around with all her rage. “He’s a great general! He deserves a PROPER funeral!”

They couldn't find any decent fabric to wrap the body, so Yawen used her own dress, cut it open and wrapped up her uncle. The man found her a set of clothes, oversized and worn, but she felt better seeing her uncle goes away with the little dignity she could offer.

“So, would you like to say something?” The tall man asked.  
“I…” Yawen opened her mouth but choked.

She had been to a few funerals, but only in formality, never truly close to the person who died. Today it was her uncle, someone who was close, but she found herself lost in words.

“To the general.” Suddenly the man behind her began. “To the many wars that you've fought, to the many lives that you've saved. You will be remembered, not only as a hero of war, but one who bring back their families. May you rest in peace.”

After taken a last look at her uncle, she pressed the button that turned off the force field, a rush of air sucked the body out into the empty space.

“Thank you.” said Yawen softly. “I couldn’t have said it better.”  
“If you do it long enough it become natural.” The tall man yawned. “And then eventually you’ll grown out of it.”  
“Have you any friend who died?”  
“Who’s counting?”

They return to the hanger where the speeder was docked, Yawen was told to clear her belongings out of the speeder. She hasn't any.

“What is your name?” She asked.  
“Why? You won’t need it long enough before you go your way.” He looked at the streamline speeder, estimating its value.  
“I’d like to know the man who helped my uncle's funeral.” She replied.  
“Cass.”  
“As in Cassidy?”  
“Just Cass.”  
“Cass what? Don’t you have a surname?”  
“Just Cass.” He repeated. “And you’re Elli.”  
“Auri.”  
“Whatever, the servant girl.”


	3. The Parting

Chapter 3: The Parting  
Several hours later they made the deliver at Mongarni, a planet that shared the same orbital period with its sun. The synchronize rotation given one side of Mongarni a permanently scorching hot day, and the other side a forever cold night.

Businesses in Mongarni were as clarify as the planet itself, buying and selling, no name, no questions.

“Goodbye, ship.” Yawen watched her uncle's speeder disappeared into the rainy night, it almost felt as if a piece of her has flown away.  
“Here.” Cass tapped her shoulder with a card.  
“What is it?” She looked back, it was a thin metallic card.  
“It’s your cut.”  
“My what?”  
“From the speeder. What? You think I’m gonna rip off a little servant girl?”

Yawen looked at the card, not sure what to do with it. She has never the need for money, nor the need to buy things.

“You see that bar with the dancing lady?” Cass pointed at a hologram signage high up in the misty air. “Tell them where you wanna go. Anyone ask for more than two hundreds are trying to scam you.”

Yawen stared at the sign, took a moment to think where she could go. Mirron, she remembered her uncle said, home of the general’s mother.

“Mirron, I want to go to…” She looked back and he was gone. “Cass?”

The street was full of people, shuffling in all direction under the heavy rain. Yawen pushed among them, only to find herself trapped in a maze of pedestrians. In rain everybody dress the same, long coats and hoods, made it harder to differentiate.

“Cass!” She screamed into the wall of people surrounding her, so packed she couldn’t breathe. They were so tall and she was so little, and this is not a place for little people. “CASS!”

She climbed up a staircase that might belong to a tanker, scanning from side to side among to sea of pedestrians. Colorful advertisements illuminated the misty air, dyeing everything red or orange or green, everyone looked the same. She tried to remember Cass’ distinction but couldn’t, they haven’t been together all that long, he looked just like everyone here, tall and scruffy.

“CASS!!” She called again, not sure if anyone could hear her over the noisy street. “CASS!!”

And at the corner of her eyes there he was, walking into a bar with a woman in each arm.

“Flying across the galaxy can be adventurous!” said Cass with hands wrapped around the twins. “Say, why don’t you two come with me to ...”  
“CASS!!” a young girl barged through the door drew everyone's attention.  
“Is that girl talking to you, Cass?” One of the twins asked.  
“Nope!” Cass kept his head down, but not enough to hide his size.  
“I think she’s calling you.” The other twin said, seeing the young girl coming towards them.  
“Oh shit!”

Yawen pushed through the crowd with rage, soaked from head to toe, leaving a trail of wet prints across the floor. She came up and gave Cass a hard push, enough to knock him off his chair.

“How could you leave me like that!” She grabbed his collar and shoved him with all her force, pinning him to the wall. “How could you leave me like that!” She cried again.  
“Is… this your daughter?” One of the twins asked.  
“No! Ah ... no!” Trying to maintain a smile, he explained: “We were… associates.”  
“How could you leave me!” Yawen cried again, slamming her fists into his chest. “I thought we were… we were…”  
“Lovers?” The other twin asked.  
“No! That’s so not it!” Cass tried to keep the situation under control, but he could not do it in a bar full of thieves and smugglers, and a little girl crying in his chest.

* * *

“What were you thinking barging in like that?” Cass said, pressing a beer bottle to his mouth to ice down the bruise. Her punches were hard, but nothing compare to the twins. “You could have got yourself kill!”

Yawen sat next to him, still sobbing and shaking, she has removed her wet clothes, now in another oversized set. Cass handed her a bottle of beer, she took one sip, the awful taste made her wanted to vomit, but she kept it in her hands, rotating it mindlessly with her fingers.

“I gave you the money, why didn’t you leave?” Cass asked.  
Yawen didn't answer. She has been asking the same question since they got back from the bar.  
“Is there any place you can go?”  
The girl remained quiet, like she had been in the last hour.  
“Well, I’m off to bed.” Cass stretched and yawned. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow, so you figure out a place where I can drop you.”

He finished his beer and head to the bunker. It has been a long day and he fell asleep instantly.

Someone rocked him from his sleep, his reflexes reached under the pillow and pulled out a gun, drew it up a second before he consciously awake.

“I want you to teach me.” Yawen stood beside him.  
“You!” Cass said in relief, forgotten that he had an additional member on board. “You almost got yourself killed, kid!”  
“I had a few of these today.” She replied emotionlessly.  
“What time is it?” He looked at his wristwatch, annoyed to be disturbed at such hour. “Teach you what?”  
“Everything.”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
“I have nothing left.” said Yawen, her voice so calm at her age it made Cass felt creepy. “I don’t have a family anymore. I don’t have a home. I have nowhere to go.”  
“Go to sleep, kid!” Cass turned away in his bunk. “Or you can go now. I don’t care.”

He didn’t get out of bed until noon, mostly because he got used to wake up in sunlight, and living on the dark side of the planet distorted all that.

“You’re still here.” He found the servant girl sitting at the loading bay.  
“The door was locked.” She replied, getting on her feet.  
“Is that right?” He walked pass her and punched the open button. The door slide opened with a hissed. “Not the way I see it.”  
“Is that right?” Yawen asked with a judging look. “Without recognizing your identification?”  
“Goodbye!” Cass stepped aside and made way for her.  
“You said you’ll drop me anywhere.”  
“Did I?”  
“Mirron. I want to go to Mirron.”  
“What’s in Mirron?”  
“My home.”  
“A servant girl from Mirron? Home of the nobles?”  
“I meant, my master’s home.” She collected her words. “I have responsibility to bring back the news of his death.”

Cass ran calculations in his head, planning routes, fueling cost, plotting out enemies and allies in the path, balanced pros and cons.

“Who’s paying for my fuel?” Cass asked after all that, which took just under two seconds.  
Yawen took out the metallic card and waved in front of him.  
“Two hundred. Any higher and you are scamming me.”


	4. Home Coming

Chapter 4: Home Coming  
Going to Mirron meant avoiding all the Imperial occupied colonies, which all stood at the center of the galaxy. Cass regretted not heading to Mirron directly from the asteroid field, where he could have saved a whole lot of fuel. To return to base and headed for Mongarni then Mirron, would made the longest “C” around the outer rim, instead of jumped from two closest points.

This also left them alot of time living in a confine environment.

“Explain to me again how a ship runs!” asked Yawen.  
“Already explained.” Cass stood up and stretch in exhaustion. “Flying a ship through hyperspace is too much for a servant girl to understand!”  
“No you didn’t. You didn’t explain how you quit racing and become a smuggler.”

Cass paused and looked back.

“Where did you hear that?”  
“I saw a medal in your bunk, several of them.” Yawen climbed to her feet and said: “My ... master, he had the same medals.”  
“Then your master was a brave man.”  
“More than you know.” She admitted, thinking of uncle Nobi died protecting her. “So why did you quit?”  
“It’s a long story.”  
“Longer than fifty two hours and thirty eight minutes? Which is exactly the time to reaching Mirron. Am I correct?” Yawen cocked her head smartly.

Cass thought back on all the fame and glory of his time, his eyes filled with pride, his vision reached far beyond. Then he dismissed the thoughts and said:

“War broke out. Shit happens!”  
“Oh come on! I want to hear!”  
Cass wished to move on.   
“D'you wanna fly?”  
“Really?” The girl's eyes brightened up. 

The ship was a Voya F3, smaller than a freighter but with decent storage. The duo-console design allowed pilot and copilot exchange control options. It was nicknamed the “home vehicle” because of its full facility, complete with shower and kitchen.

Cass took his master seat and had Yawen to his right. He jumped out of hyperspace and put on simulation mode, switched the controls to her.

“Okay servant girl. Let's see you fly this thing.”

Simulation mode limits the ship to run at low capacity, a safety setting for new users and repairmen to test run the ship. The girl was a fast learner, made every turn and sharp breaks. Seeing her brightened up reminded him of someone special. He had times like this before, joyful moments that were long forgotten.

“Now show me how to jump.” Yawen asked in excitement.  
“Uh… what?” Cass pulled out from his memories.  
“Jump to hyperspace! Show me!”  
“Okay.” It took a moment to pull himself together. “Where are we now?”  
Yawen read out the coordinates and start planning routes.  
“Hey, let’s stop by for refuel.”He tapped on the controls. “Always keep your eyes on the fuel. Or you’ll end up in dead space. And you could use a set of clothes to see your masters!”  
The girl smiled.

Scaven was the underrated name given by the higher society, referring to those who shop there were low life scavengers, picking up trash that they thrown away. But in fact, Scaven has grown into a sophisticate flee market over the years, and had became a popular gas-stops and refreshments for distance travelers.

“I thought they said this is a junkyard!” Yawen looked surprise at all the colorful tents and flags. “This looks like a big carnival!”  
“Most rich people do!”  
“Oh! What’s that smell?” She covered her nose in disgust.  
“THAT! Servant girl,” Cass took a deep breath. “Is what everyone came for!”

Yawen followed him cut across the crowded streets, her fist grabbed onto his coat tightly, not wanting to lose him again. She grew up in a palace, dense population suffocated her.

Most houses were assembled from auto parts; a tanker from a tow ship, an oil drum from a carrier. There was a glass house built off different shapes of windshields.

They turned into a dead end alley where there was a long line waiting, Cass as if didn’t see the line, lead her right to the front.

“Hey! There’s a line!” People complained.  
“Yeah and I’m in front of it!” Cass yelled without looking back, walked straight to the counter and said to the cashier: “Give me twenty burgers, charcoal burned outside, bloody inside. All meat, no source, no veg.”

For a moment nothing happened, the young cashier in nerdy glasses just stared at him in confusion.

“Cass, is this right?” Yawen tucked on his coat, then heard an old voice asked:  
“Twenty? How’re you gonna pay for it?”

The voice was from a door behind the counter, the speaker unseen.

“How about a bullet for each?” Cass answered.  
“All that meat’s gonna kill you!”  
“We eat when we can!”

An old man showed from the door, a giant bald headed man with wire glasses, his size made the nerdy cashier girl looked tiny. He came around the counter in a heavily slow pace, stood in front of Cass ahead taller, staring down at him and said:

“Cause we never know when will be the next meal!” The old man burst out laughing, turned to the cashier girl and yelled: “Gal, we’re closing for the night!”

The two men embraced passionately, everyone else; Yawen, the cashier girl and the line all looked confused.

They were showed to the upper floor. The burger house was converted from two warship cooling tanks, one stacked on top of the other, being used for kitchen and storage below and living quarters above. The living room was jammed with auto parts, in the middle was a square table but no chairs, everyone sat on the floor, with the cashier girl named Gal dishing in endless burgers.

“So what brought you to this part of the shithole?” The old chief asked after a long swallow of beer, wiped his mouth with his sleeve.  
“I missed the burgers!” Cass was on his second burger, taking great chunks and hardly chew before swallow.  
“And who is the pretty lady here?”  
“This is Olly.”  
“Auri.” Yawen corrected, reached her arm out for a handshake, but the old chief looked confuse.  
“Don’t mind her,” Cass cut in. “She’s a servant girl of some high ranking general somewhere, still can’t shook off the formality.”  
“It’s just a gesture of friendship.” disappointed, Yawen maintain her smile and withdrew her hand, returned to her burger. It was her first decent meal since she left home. “Anyway, thank you for your hospitality. These burgers tasted fantastic! What’s it made of?”  
“Dead people.” Both men replied.  
“Really? Wouldn’t you lose profits consider how much you’re selling?” She took another bite.

Seeing the girl was not fooled, Cass and the Chief exchanged looks, and then said: “Rotten.”

The table fell silent. Yawen laughed: “Ha Ha! You guys!” Then she looked down her plate, what she thought to be overcooked bits and spitted out, were in black crescent shape. They were tiny claws. With that her face turned white. “Excuse me….”  
“The toilet’s that way.” the Chief pointed.

Maintaining grace she got up slowly, but couldn’t help rush into the direction, followed by the most gruesome sound an eleven years old child could make. Both men burst with laughter.

“Cass,” Chief said. “I’m not going to ask what you’re doing with her, but when are you going to go back to your old self?”  
“You know I can’t. The war took away everything.”  
“No. You threw away everything.” Chief threw his a look.  
“Whatever.” Cass took a swallow of beer. “They’re in the pass now.”  
“Do you enjoy your life now?”  
“What’s not to enjoy? I’m having the best ride of a lifetime!”  
“Suit yourself!” Chief dropped the conversation as Yawen return.

Looking pale and weak, Yawen sat back at the table, and to everyone's surprise she picked up another burger and took a big bite.

“Wow! This girl got balls!” Chief amused.  
“Eat when we can. Right?” Yawen answered with a mouthful, apparently not liking it, washing down with gulps of beer.

On top of the cooling tank, Cass and Chief stared onto the night sky. Unlike Mongarni, Scaven was built with scraps, no tall buildings and illuminated billboards, no light pollution, one could see a clear starry sky. They watched the view in silence, with occasional interruptions from Yawen throwing up a floor down.

“Poor girl! Six burgers in a roll! Who would have thought?” Cass laughed. “She must really like your burgers.”  
“She was trying to prove a point.” Chief said.  
“To whom?”  
“To you!”  
“What for?” Cass chuckled. “We’ll be parted in a few days.”  
“Maybe she wants to stay.”  
“And do what? I have no room for a servant girl!”  
“No room in your ship? Or as in…?” Chief cocked his head.  
“Oh, Shut up!” Cass complained. “Since when have you become a sentimentalist?”  
“Since Gal.”  
“What about her?”  
Chief let out a long sigh before his story.

“I’ve lived your life before, Cass. The lone ranger, no attachments, fearless, scattered romances across the galaxy. And then one day I was sick, so sick I couldn’t even get up for a glass of water. Gal was about Auri’s age then, sneaky little bastard broke into my home try to steal shit, but the first place she went for was the kitchen. Poor kid must been starving for days, didn’t even notice me. I called out and said ‘Kid, you can have everything in here, you can stay until you eat up all the food, but would you please get me a glass of water?’. And there she was, like an angel, brought me the tastiest of water in my life! Of all the things I’ve done, going to war, doing what’s right, it all came down to who could be at your side when you were in need.”

Chief went silent, took a sip of his beer and asked:

“So when are you leaving?”  
“Tomorrow.” said Cass. “I just wanna drop her off so I can be on my business.”  
“Then I leave you to sleep.”

Chief dropped flat on the cooler’s roof and fell asleep right there. Cass lay on his back looking at the stars, figuring out his next destination after Mirron. Down below, Yawen made another sound of stomach trouble. It’s going to be a long night! Cass thought.


	5. Moving on

Chapter 5: Moving on  
Yawen looked dehydrated, her face looked worse than the night before, with lifeless dark eyes. She gulped down bottle after bottle of water as Cass instructed.

“Take more! Flush it out of the system!” said Cass. “Do you want some breakfast?”  
“No!” Yawen refused to eat any more food from this planet.  
“Alright, let's refill so we can be on our way.”

As promised, Cass took her to the clothes market. He picked a pair of brown pocket pants, a few shirts, a used flight jacket that could fit her size, and a pair of worn boots. He spotted an old fashion leather helmet with goggles, fitted it on her head and tucked all her hair in it.

“I look like a boy!” Yawen complained to the mirror, displeased to have her proud long hair shoved into the ugly cap.  
“And you’ll start act like one. You’ll survive better when people don't see you as a girl.” said Cass.

She turned away from the mirror, felt like being played, but at least they were fitted. She followed Cass to buy accessories before returning to the hanger.

“What is your ship's name?”  
“What’s that?” asked Cass, running the control pad on the loader.  
“Your ship. What’s her name?”  
“Doesn’t have one.” Cass replied. “Didn’t wanna grow too attach.”  
“Why not Vika?”  
“Vika is just a voice activating program that transfers my commands into action.”  
“Why don't you have a droid to do that?”  
“I hate droids, they talk too much, trying to pretend they have feelings. The more experience a pilot, the less assistance he needs.”

Yawen thought of uncle Nobi's ship computer, how dull and direct. Maybe they could be friends, uncle and Cass.

“I named my ship Navis. In ancient language it meant the river of stars.”  
“You had a ship named Navis?”  
“I meant, if I have a ship.” She corrected. “But now I want to name her Auri.” For sacrificing her life to save mine...  
“You'll name a ship in your own name? How narcissistic!”  
“No! That's not it! I'm ...” Seeing the conversation going nowhere, she shut up and helped loading the smaller goods.

Preparing a ship was complicated. Cass went through everything with Yawen, from hull inspection to pre-flight checklist, hyperdrive and secondary thrusters, ventilation, life support and more.

It was more than his usual takeoff routine, it was the pre-race routine back in his racing days, where everything was down to precision. Cass didn't know why he showed her so much, perhaps it brought him back to the glory days when he tried to impress girls. The servant girl was smarter than he thought, took everything in pretty well, reminded him of someone long ago. By time they were back in the cockpit he called out:

“Are you ready to fly?”  
“Ready!”  
“Take it up the air, servant girl!”  
“What?”

Cass switched the control to Yawen.

“Let see if you've been learning!” He threw his arms behind his head.  
“Are you sure about this?”  
“Never give up my control unless I believe it!”

Yawen put her hands on each side of the yoke, ran through the checklist in her mind, and then took a deep breath. She raised her fingers and punched in a sequence of switches, the engine started to rumble. She slowly pushed up the thrust levers, the rumble grew, until finally let out an exploding roar. The whole ship jumped to life.

“There's your wake up call!” Cass yelled behind the roar. “Nothing sound better than a kick in the butt!”

With so much running in mind, Yawen focused on steering the ship up, ascending toward the sky. The powerful engine produced so much G-force she had problem breathing, but she still yelled out loud.

“THIS FEELS SO GOOD!!”  
“It gets better!” Cass laughed and yelled back.

The view in the cockpit turned from light to dark as they left the atmosphere, G-force reduced when the ship reached constant speed.

“Have you got the routes planned out?” asked Cass.  
“Yes!” Yawen still gasping for breath.

She punched out the coordinates, Cass checked and confirmed. 

“Go for it!”  
“Are you sure?”  
“GO!”

She pushed the hyperdrive lever, and the most beautiful sight appeared before her eyes. Stars stretched into beams shooting toward her, dark space turned into eliminating clouds, like entering an endless nebula.

“Control lock. Autopilot on.” reported Yawen.  
“Then we're on our way!” Cass got up from his seat.  
“How did I do?”  
“Not bad for a servant girl!” Cass turned and smiled.


	6. The Messenger

Chapter 6: The Messenger  
Yawen had decided to let her hair down, it was the only thing that looked like her old self now. She made herself as presentable as she could with what she had, which wasn't much.

They were minutes away from reaching Mirron, and she had to deliver uncle Nobi's death to his family. She spent a long time preparing it, it was her first eulogy and she didn't want to mess up the way she did for uncle Nobi.

“There!” Cass looked up from the controls. “There's the servant girl I remember.”  
“Stop teasing me!” She climbed into her seat and took control.  
“Have you finished your speech?”  
“It's hard.” Yawen sighed. “I hope I don't have to do it again!”  
“Hard now? Wait 'til you start reading it!” He switched the control to Yawen. “Ready to exit hyperspace.”

Pulling back the lever, the view returned to dark space. Before them a planet of green and blue.

“So do you know where go to? It may look like a little ball but it'll get huge when you get down there.”  
“I'm not sure, I guess I'll just ask.”

Nobi the Brave, General of A Thousand Golden Army, Royal Guard of Grand King Delavigne, Mirron'sProud... Who wouldn't know? She thought.

“Wait. What's that?” Cass pointed to the planet.  
“What's what?”

Yawen looked to the direction where he was pointing. Near the upper hemisphere where the green lands were, was a giant black spot, like a burn mark on a ball's surface.

“Is that supposed to be there?”  
“I'm not sure.” It was the first time she saw Mirron too.  
“Let's keep a distance. We'll make some calls.”

They put the ship into orbit, listen to all frequencies from the surface below, what they've received were cries and fears.

“They were attacked!” said Cass.  
“Are you sure?”  
“I've seen enough aftermaths to distinguish stress calls. This doesn't sound like any natural disaster as far as I know.”

He looked out onto the planet surface, the burn mark stretched for a thousand mile. What kind of weapons could generate such damage?

“I'm looking for the family of Nobi Delavigne! I have a message from Darliya!”

While Yawen repeated her message on open channels, Cass checked all sensors to make sure no Imperial Forces were nearby.

“I don't see anything.” Cass reported.  
“I found them!” Yawen turned and said.

They landed on a primitive flat land surrounded by a mountain ridge. At any giving day the view could be stunningly beautiful, but right now there was a wall of smothering black clouds reached up to the sky, glowing in red heat with occasional thunder, formed by the burn marks outer rim, expending and swallowing up the land below.

People came out of a small farm house, waving at the ship, bowing against the strong hot wind coming from the black clouds.

“Are you okay with this?” Cass looked at Yawen, all tensed up. “Would you like me to come with you?”  
“It's all right.” she said. “It will be best if I go alone.” Best if you don't see me cry...

She stood up from her seat, tidied herself one last time before heading to the ramp.

“Thank you for everything.” She said once more.  
“Anything to get you off my ship!”  
Yawen chuckled.

She stood watching the ship lifted off, it hovered a bit before making a complete survey of the surrounding. From the other side she could spot uncle Nobi's wife and younger brother, they all met her in last year's ball. She stood and waited. It was customary for commoners to come toward the Royal.

Jeany and her brother Yoki could hardly recognize the princess, but when they got close, their knees bended to the ground and bow.

“Princess Yawen! We are most relieved that you are alive!” They cried. “There was no news from Darliya, what happened? Where's Nobi?”

The eulogy that she had memorized a hundred times, turned into images of every death before her eyes, deaths so she could live. She stood speechless, lips trembling, and broke into tears.

Cass flew the ship above atmosphere, taking closer look at the giant burn mark.

It was like flying into the eye of a storm, but instead of a vortex turning into the center, this one expands outward. Everything inside the eye was flatten in dark ashes, blown tracks all lead to the center of what looked like giant ditch.

Only an asteroid could create such impact. Thought Cass, but asteroids don't create so much heat. Must be some powerful energy, like a blaster. But how big of a blaster?

A siren broke his attention, followed by Vika's report.

WARNING! HYPERSPACE EXIT PROXIMITY! Something is coming out of hyperspace.

Cass dove the ship into the flaming dust storm, just deep enough to avoid radar detection, but shallow enough to observe the incoming visitor.

Seconds later a huge triangle shape appeared, it could only be distinguished as an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Could they have done it? But how? And what are they doing back? Cass tried to guess what protocol would they proceed next. The Imperial was formed from the republic, their leaders maybe different but protocols usually stayed the same.

From the belly of the beast came four TIE fighters, all heading toward where he just landed.

“Oh Shit!”

He dove deeper, flying blind in fire storm, using Vika to relocate their last landing spot, hoping to cut ahead. The ship broke the wall of dark clouds and came into the open, he could see the servant girl walking toward the house with her company.

“Auri!” He yelled from the cockpit, turned on the external speaker and yelled again. “AURI!”

No expecting his return, Yawen turned and looked at the hovering ship in puzzlement.

“The Imperials are here! TIE fighters coming!” The ship's speaker crackled, shortly took over by a roar of Imperial fighters cut through the sky.

“No!” Yawen froze for a moment, and then turned to her people and yelled. “GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT!!”

Before they could react, a TIE fighter flew by, fired a chain of energy beams toward the house, killing everyone in the area.

“NO!!” Yawen screamed in horror. 

“Auri! Jump abroad!” Cass called out, just before he realized that he became the next target.

Armory, communication, transport, buildings. Four primary targets in the textbook procedure, and now he was the only target left, drawing the TIE fighters like the magnet. He had to stay in motion, at the same time finding a way to get Yawen onboard.

He pulled up and broke left, drawing the TIE fighters away from Yawen.

“Keep moving! I'll pick you up!” yelled Cass.

Yawen ran toward the burning house, Yoki was dead, but Jeany was crying in pain, the flying rocks from the explosion punctured her body in several places.

“Aunt Jeany!” She held her head.  
“Princess …” Jeany coughed blood. “Tell my husband … I loved him.”  
“Aunt Jeany!”

Yawen could never bring herself to report uncle Nobi's death, and now aunt Jeany die not knowing it. Surrounding her were sounds of roaring engines circling in the sky, all pursuing Cass into the clouds. Taken a moment of silence, Yawen embraced anut Jeany's body.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” She cried, and then she heard.  
“LOOK UP! LOOK UP!”

Cass' voice screamed on the loud speakers, his ship emerged from the dark clouds - backward. It's ramp already lowered, scraping up the grassy earth towards her.

Dazed by mourn, Yawen felt the ground turned, rolling her like a tumbleweed, and the next second found herself in the loading bay.

RAMP SECURE. Reported Vika.  
“Hold on tight!” Cass yelled from cockpit.

He stopped reversing and pitched the nose of the ship so high it went vertical, pointed directly to the sky and pushed full throttle.

The gravity system in the ship activates automatically only when it reaches space, but not before. Everything that weren't tie down or locked up were thrown into the back, knocking Yawen painfully.

“Sorry!” Cass yelled back. “Vika! Prepare hyperdrive!”  
NEGATIVE! OBSTRUCTION AHEAD.

Directly above, the Star Destroyer came blocking his path.

The F3 was made for light courier, it had no armament on board except Cass' hand gun, and it didn't have the power to outrun TIE fighters, unless they jump to hyperspace, which need to take place in space.

Right now there were four TIE fighters at his rear and a Star Destroyer blocking ahead, trapping him in the middle. Out of options, Cass once again dive the ship into the fire storm.

“Sir! Fighters lost visual!” a crew relayed the message from the pilots.  
“Open a channel. Feed them our radar mapping.” said the captain.

TIE fighters had weak radars, and would rely on the mothership for wide range supporting. The received information would generate a three dimensional map inside the pilot's helmet. On the bridge everyone watched four little green dots chasing one big red dot, in a background of orange waves.

Yawen climbed her way to the copilot seat, her forehead bruised from impact.

“What do I do?”  
“Get ready to open cargo door four!”

The F3 has four external cargo storages, two front and two back. Cass reduced speed, drawing the TIE fighter closer.

“Now!”

Yawen punched the switch as the ship broke left, it's rear right cargo door opened, let out a trail of spare parts and repairing tools scattered in the air. The TIE fighter that caught it, having heavy wrenches shattered the windshield at bullet speed, killing the pilot instantly.

“We lost one!” Reported the crew onboard the Star Destroyer.  
“Do not lose them!” said the captain, watching the radar hologram display.

“One down!” cheered Cass. “Now we need to dump some space fuel!”  
“Ready!” Yawen had her finger on the next button.

At the belly of the ship released a spray of silver fluid. Unlike air fuel that flows in pipes, space fuel were magnetic so that it could be displace at zero gravity.

So what the TIE pilots thought flying through the harmless spray got magnetic fuel splattered all over. Steering against the high wind, the air friction increased magnetic force, attracting dust particles to stuck on the ship's hull, layers over layers, and eventually too heavy to fly.

“We lost two more, sir!”  
“Who IS this guy?” wondered the captain. Never in his service career had seen one brought down three TIE fighters without firing a single shot.  
“Sir! We lost the target!”  
“How?” On the hologram map he saw the only green dot flying aimlessly. “Find it!”

The fighter pilot looking desperately out of his cockpit, without radar support he might as well be flying blindfolded.

“Looking for me, Boy?” Cass leaned forward so he could keep the TIE fighter in view, right above his windshield.

All radars functions the same, in space it reads everything, right and left, up and down, close and far. But when use against the planet surface, all scales were compressed into two dimension, with it's vertical readings unclear. 

Cass kept his ship in proximity, following the fighter's maneuver like its own shadow, so close the radar read it as one.

All eyes on the bridge fixed on the holographic map, looking for signs of air disturbance, temperature change, anything that could give away their target, but the only thing they saw was the single fighter flying in the orange waves.

Then suddenly, the green dot ascended in high speed, rising vertically towards the mothership.

“What is our pilot doing?” asked the captain.

Below the Star Destroyer, the last TIE fighter broke the clouds, with their target ship pushing from beneath.

The TIE fighter got its vertical wings caught at the ship's nose, it's octagonal windshield came face to face with the ship's cockpit, both pilots staring at each other.

“Smile and wave!” Cass freed one hand from the yoke and waved an indecent gesture at the pilot opposite.

The fighter pilot fired his blaster in protest, but he was caught in an odd angle that his aiming couldn't get into alignment, energy beams blasted out into the empty air.

The captain realized what their target planned to do and called out:

“Shoot it down! Shoot it down!”  
“Sir, what about our fighter?”  
“Shoot it down! NOW!”

Base gunners began to fire, only to hit their own TIE fighter. The target ship was using it as a shield while gaining altitude.

Blasters rained down at the TIE fighter until it broke apart, but by that time the rising ship was already leveled at the edge of the huge Star Destoryer. Cass pulled the yoke and broke right, scrape the side of the Destroyer and came on top.

“Tracker beams. Now!” ordered the captain. “Don't let it get away!”

Two powerful tracker beams pointed toward the escaping ship.

“And I KNOW you'll do that!” said Cass. “Open door number three!”

The rear left cargo door opened, ejected half a dozen canisters behind. The tracker beams picked up the scattered cans, drawing it toward the mothership, while the ship made its jump to hyperspace.

On the bridge everyone went quiet, most of the crew stunned by what they just saw, all of them feared the penalties ahead.

“Find out who he is.” said the captain in rage. “Quickly!”


	7. Fugitives

Chapter 7: Fugitives  
The near escape cost the ship heavy damage. They had to shut down hyperdrive before it fails, leaving them to their destination weeks away.

Cass scanned the communication channels, hoped to hitchhike a ride, but it was unlikely now that their ship were on the wanted list. Every authority, security departments, freelance bounty hunters would be looking for a Voya F3 light carrier with blaster burns. At least they're not looking for the passengers, thought Cass.

“We're famous now!”He tried to cheer the girl up. “It'll take a miracle for someone willing to give us a ride, or give us to the authorities.”

The servant girl was going through the flight list, checking every switch and reading every dial, in silence. She had been doing that since they left Mirron, shutting herself into her own bubble, replied only in the minimum of words.

Yawen kept herself busy so she did not have to see aunt Jeany's face. She went to Mirron to do one thing - to deliver a message, a few words, and she couldn't even do that.

“Auri?”  
She didn't hear at first.  
“Auri?” Cass tapped her shoulder. “Go to sleep.”  
“I need to check the pressure gages.”  
“You checked it an hour ago.”  
“And the water purifier, and air filter…”  
“Auri.” Cass looked her in the eyes. “Go to sleep.”

So she went, climbed into her section and lie down motionless with her back toward Cass.

If there was anything more irritating then a silent girl, was a silent girl with obedience. It gave Cass no room to argue or pick a fight. He didn't know what happened after he dropped her at Mirron, it wasn't his nature to ask. He picked up the checklist where the servant girl left, started going through it himself.

A week went by without conversation, Cass felt less suffocating in a Biro prison, he would give anything now for a change of site.

And his wish got granted. 

A towship jumped out of hyperspace space. It's tow section looked tiny compare to the four great cargo behind, all together nearly as long as a Star Destroyer. It came parallel to the ship's path and made a thorough scan.

WE ARE BEING SCAN. Reported Vika.  
“Let them!” told Cass, with gun in hand.

Uncharted space was a dangerous place, one could never know the intention, it could be a scavenger ship collecting junk, or a ship full of armed pirates ready to heist.

The tow ship opened one of the cargos door, used tracker beam to draw the ship in.

“The plan is to draw them inside one by one. Take enough down and use the last one as hostage, take control of the ship.” Cass instructed Yawen. “Remember, as long as we stay alive, there's always a way out!”

The servant girl nodded cautiously, it was the first sign of emotion in days.

“Grab anything close, use it as a weapon.”  
Yawen grabbed the closest thing - a long steel wrench, weighing it with both hands.

The internal speaker opened with a sharp tone, followed by a robotic voice.

YOUR SHIP IS COMMANDEERED. GIVE UP YOUR WEAPONS, COME OUT WITH HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!

“We're unarmed!” Cass yelled.  
WE DETECTED FIREARMS. LOWER THEM AND COME OUT WITH HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD!  
“That's impossible!” thought Cass. Sensors may detect life signs but not firearms.  
YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS, BEFORE WE INJECT POISON GAS!

Out of options, Cass lowered his gun, pulled out a pair of daggers, handed one to Yawen, slipping the other in his boot.

“Don't shoot! We're unarm!” Cass lowered the ramp and stepped out. A sport light blinded their visibility.

IDENTIFY YOURSELF! The voice said behind the light.

“We're refugees from Nazvaru!” yelled Cass. Nazvaru had been in war since the beginning of time. “Our ship is down and we need shelter!”

HOW MANY ARE YOU ON BOARD?  
“What? Two!” Didn't you scanned us?  
DROIDS?  
“No droids!”  
“Sorry Astrid!” said a girl's voice.

Spotlight turned off, leaving lines of blue lights illuminating from the floor. A nine foot tall droid stepped into the light, its body was welded with thick heat shields from head to toe, eyes glowing blue. Its appearance alone would put out a dozen of Storm Troopers.

It walked up to Cass, staring down on him wordless.

“Sorry about that guys! Can't be too careful these days!”

Behind the huge droid, a woman in greasy clothes and workpants showed up. She was at her late twenties, short brunette hair with tanned skin.

“Hi! I'm Ardin.” She extended her hand. “You can put your hands down now.”  
“Cass.” He shook her hand.  
“And your daughter?”  
“Well…” Cass troubled.  
“Auri.” said Yawen, extended to shake her hand.  
“You guys lost? What're you doing is this end of space?”  
“We had engine trouble.” answered Cass.

Ardin circled their ship and assessed the damage.

“Engine trouble eh?” She looked at the blaster burns, Cass answered her with a don't ask look. “How long were you out here?”  
“Over a week now.”  
“You guys must be hungry!”

Ardin lead Cass and Yawen to the gate. The iron droid remain motionless, starring at the ship's ramp.

“Come on Astrid! It's not gonna show up no matter how long you stare!”Ardin turned and said. “Astrid had been wanting company since his last friend worn out.”

The living quarter was small but cozy, composed from various vehicle parts; the chairs were pilot seats off different transports, table from a commercial plane, kitchen was from a Voya F3 that Cass had no doubt about.

Ardin threw in various rations of different worlds, resulted in a pot of spicy stew, each was given a loaf of black bread to dip into the stew and eat.

“Can you handle this?” Cass asked Yawen.  
“D'you mean if I'm going to throw up again?” She tossed him a look, took a mouthful on the stew-soaked bread. The spice was so strong it made her eyes teary, she blinked away, swallowed and took another bite.  
“At it girl!” cheered Ardin. “Your daughter is going to grow up a strong woman!”  
“She... eh”  
“Did you hear that, Dad?”Yawen said with a mouthful. “I can handle it just fine, Dad!”

Smart played. Cass thought, a family would lower one's suspicion, maybe even gain some sympathy. Until Ardin asked:

“So what happened in Mirron?”  
“Who said we were from Mirron?” asked Cass, slowly reaching the dagger in his boot.  
“Your ship does. Every authority and bounty hunter in the galaxy is looking for a Voya F3, preferably with blaster burns.”  
“What do you want?” Cass asked cautiously.  
“A trade.” said Ardin. “Your ship holds great value to me, the information alone will get me more than the bounty itself.”  
“You want to hang it on a hook and draw the bounty hunters for their tips.”  
“Exactly.”

Sell the same tip to a hundred bounty hunters, then lead them all to the same spot, let them kill each other, and then scrounge up their belongings after everyone is dead. A trick he learned from another scavenger many years back.

“What about us?” Cass asked, watching any signed of attack, wondering if the nine foot droid could jam into this place, or if the food was poisoned.  
“I'll give you a ship. You fly away and we'll never see each other again.”  
“Just like that?”  
“Just like that.”  
“What ship can you give me?”

The cargos were made to stock ships in quantities, the structure so big it would take days to walk across it. Ardin flew a four-seater, introducing her collection with proud. There were luxury yachts, industrial transporters, ships of all shapes and sizes, all stacked neatly on both side, over and under.

“So let me get this straight.” Cass asked. “People pay to send their ship to a vocation spot? Why couldn't they just fly there themselves?”  
“Rich people think differently I guess, but not all of them here are like that. Some are send to or from repair, and others traded in.”

Among the collection was a fire red streamline speeder.

“The Grand Formula X2 Sparrow.” Cass pointed out.  
“The last of it! You can't go any faster than that!”Ardin cheered.  
I know that. Thought Cass, I had one! Once...

They reach the forth cargo, landed at the base of the stack. Most ships here needed serious repairs, some excavated to just shells and bones.

“Gentlemen, here it is!” Ardin presented.  
“What a piece of junk!” Cass cried out, looking at an old beat-up freighter.  
“It's a Corellian YT-1300. You can't get more inconspicuous than this!” Ardin smiled in confidence.  
“It's a big-ass freighter! I'll get my ass blasted before I can get it off the ground!”

The ship was enormous, with a dish shaped body twice as wide as his old ship. It had an off-center cockpit to the hull's right. The Corellians mass-produced it as heavy loaders to work between orbital shipyards, powerful things no doubt, but poorly facilitate.

The interior smelled like decades of grease, everywhere was temporarily patched with wires and circuits. Cass walked through the ship and complained.

“This thing doesn't even have shower!”  
“Who's germophobic now?” said Ardin, crossed her arms leaning against the wall.  
“Nor a kitchen. How are we supposed to cook?”  
“Do you cook?”  
“The point is,” Cass came up to her face and said. “This thing is too heavy. A TIE fighter pilot can out run this thing on foot!”  
“It can out run a Star Destroyer.” said Ardin arching her eyebrows. “Come on big guy! There're a few tricks up its sleeves.”

She took him to the back and entered the engine room, pleased to see Cass's jaw dropped.

“It was modified by the Nahees to run illegal weapons for the Shadow, which is a front for ......”  
“...for the Imperial. I know.” Cass cut in. “I didn't know anything they did were legal.”

There have always been rumors that the Empire stirs up conflicts between planets, so as to save their own cost and resources.

“It has an original Class Two Hyperdrive.”Ardin introduced. “The same type they use…”  
“…on the Star Destroyer. How the hell did they get it?” asked Cass.  
“Courtesy of the Empire.” Ardin smile.”You know your stuff! Engineering?”  
“I used to work in a hanger.” Which was a modest title referred to by professional racers. “Does it has any armament?”  
“It's previous owner installed a laser canon under its hull, but it's dry.”  
“Can you recharge it?”  
“Sorry, you get what you see.” Ardin shrugged.  
“What if we're buying?”

They left the old ship empty handed except Vika's droid brain, had it installed on the new freighter. They bought as much fuel and ration with the money they had. The iron droid loaded everything onto the freighter and charged up the cannon, while Cass handpicked a few sidearm for future protections.

“How did your sensors picked up weapons?” He put the guns in the duffel bag and asked.  
“What?” Ardin puzzled.  
“You detected my firearm when we were inside the ship.”  
“Oh that?” She let out a laugh. “People always fell for it!”  
“You sneaky bastard!” Cass threw her a punch, and stopped at her face, padded her cheek instead.  
“Do you want anything else, Mr. Fugitive?” Ardin smiled and asked.  
“Maybe one more thing.” Cass smiled back.

Yawen came out of the shower all freshen up, looking in much better shape than out of Mirron, her hair color darken by wetness, contrasted to her light color skin, which glows pink from the hot shower. Cass looked away as she put away the towel and put on her clothes, of all the women he had been with, he couldn't help but blushed. He waited until she was gone and took his turns, knowing this maybe his last shower for who knows how long.

With everything set, Yawen gave the iron droid a hug on its leg, the size made her look tiny.

“Goodbye Astrid. I hope you'll find someone soon!”  
“I guess that's it.” Cass looked at Ardin.  
“Stay out of trouble!” She smiled.

Set on his new pilot seat, Cass wiggled to find comfort. Yawen took her copilot seat quietly.

“Will you be okay, servant girl?”  
“I'm all right.” She answered, relocating all the controls from the new console.  
“Okay, let's see what this piece of junk can do!”

He placed one hand on the yoke to feel its touch, his other hand slowly pushing the thrusters, suddenly the ship rocked as if crashed into something.

“The cockpit’s on the starboard side!”Ardin’s yelling was audible through the windscreen.  
“Thanks!”Cass tried to maintain his smile, and dignity, cursing himself at forgetting the massive dish shaped hull on the side.

He steered the ship into clearance and pushed full throttle. The freighter jumped powerfully, pressing him into his seat as it launched away from the tow ship.

“Wow! Look at this baby go!” Cass cheered, threw a 360 to test its maneuverability. “Alright! Let's check out the hyperdrive! Where should we go?”  
“Mongarni.” replied Yawen quietly.  
“Why do you wanna go there?”  
“It's where things should started all along.”

Yawen drew a deep breath, ready for the speech she prepared all these time.

“We should have gone our separate ways, and then things could have been different.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“People die around me. I should be left alone.” she collected herself and continued. “First Darliya, and Mirron, people died because of me. You are a good man. I shouldn't drag you into this.”  
“Nonsense! We just ran into some trouble, that's all.”  
“No!” she said firmly. “I did a lot of thinking and... please take me to Mongarni.”  
“All right. Mongarni it is!” said Cass, his mind running through possible ways to persuade her before arrival.


	8. Detour

Chapter 8: Detour  
“Unidentified freighter. You are at restricted space. Turn your ship around or we will fire!” A message came through Vika.

“That's strange, did we set the wrong path?”  
NEGATIVE, PATH CORRECT  
“Are you sure it's updated?”  
MAPPING SYSTEM LAST UPDATE TWO ZERO THREE …  
“Zero Three! You've got to be kidding me!”

Of all the things in pre-flight checklists, they forgot the navigational system. This freighter was using a seven years old map.

“Turn around or we will shoot!”  
“Easy! We are a commercial freighter delivering machine parts to Mongarni.” Cass replied to the message.

Something shocked the freighter, knocked it out of hyperspace. Cass leveled the ship, outside the windshield were two security patrol ships.

“Turn off your engine and prepare to be boarded!” The guards broadcasted.

IGS. Cass read the ship label. INTER GALACTIC SECURITY Co. He chuckled.

“Should we be worry?” Yawen came to her copilot seat.  
“Relax, servant girl. The bigger the name the smaller the size. They all trying to sound like big guys.”

They lined up the ship and opened the hatch, two young men in uniform stepped in, guns in their hand.

“Can you tell us what's it about? We're merchants on our way to Mongarni.”  
“You have entered restricted space.”  
“Restricted by whom?”  
“That's confidential.” replied the guard. “Search the ship.”

He told his partner, who made his way to the interior.

Yawen looked at Cass , he shook his head and smiled. These guys just want some pride.

“You look familiar.” The guard with the gun said, his face tensed. “Have I seen you before?”  
Yawen froze, turn to Cass for signs. He looked tensed too.  
“Yeah! I know you!” The guard stepped closer. “You're Castiel Cox! Grand Formula Champion!”

“Former.” Cass smirked, loosen his guard. “I go by Cass now.”  
“Hey Kay! Come in here!” He yelled, the other guard returned. “Look who we found!”  
“Castiel Cox!” The other jumped. “Damn I walked right by! I've been watching you since I was a kid!”  
“Ha! Now you're making me feel old!” laughed Cass.

Yawen sighed as the atmosphere changed.

“What in space are you doing here?”  
“Our map was outdated. Where are we anyway?”  
“Well, there's a rerouting on the hyperlane, we were told to block all traffics.”  
“Rerouting? By who?” No one has the power to reroute a hyperlane. It's a neutral zone.  
“The Empire obviously. It seems they are expanding their territory.”  
“Again!” His partner added.  
“And you work for them?”  
“Out sourced. Apparently it's too small a job for them BIG CORPORATIONS.”  
“D'you know if they still hiring? I could really use some money.”  
“No shit! Can you do a three point shave on this thing?”  
“Yeah! Why are you flying this piece of junk? And who's this?” They looked at Yawen.

Cass threw an unhappy look at the servant girl and said:

“One day a woman showed up, and wanted me to meet my daughter.”

The two guards turned to Yawen and asked:

“Is that true, little girl?”  
“Mom said they met in a Ropahic concert.” Yawen replied.  
The guards exchanged looks, and then burst out laughing.  
Smart girl! thought Cass nodded.

“Yeah! We heard that before!”  
“The way you were, surprised there's just one showed up!”  
“That's why I'm always on the move!” Cass smirked again.  
“Is that why you are smuggling drugs now?”

The gang went silenced.

“Drugs? No… Wait! What are you talking about?” A chill went down Cass's spin.  
“Why don't I show you?”

The guard leaded them to the engine room. A floor panel was removed, below were four bags of purple powder.

SHIT! Cass cursed, he left in such a hurry he forgot to search the ship. Ardin said the Nahees used it to run illegal weapons, the Nahees would run ANYTHING. Drug trafficking was a serious crime and was illegal in any systems of the galaxy.

Even Yawen knew that, she looked at Cass for response. The old pilot simply waved his head and smiled.

“Shit! You found my stash. Old habits die hard!”  
“Are you saying it's all your?” One asked.  
“Everything I own!” Cass shrugged. “I'll kill myself if you ask me to quit!”

The two guards looked at each other and said:

“This is a lot of drugs. We'll have to call it in.”  
“Are you sure there's no other way?” Cass begged. “Can we work something out?”  
“You two stay here.”

Two guards when out of sight. Yawen whispered.  
“Are they going to arrest us?”  
“Not in their life career!”Cass whispered back.

Minutes later the guards returned, weighing the bag in one hand and said:

“Cass, we can't let you do this.”  
“We'll need to confiscate this.”  
“Are you sure? Can I keep just half a bag?” Cass sounded all weak and broken. “It's the only thing that can keep me sharp nowadays!”  
“Cass, you need to quit. It's for your own good. You are not yourself anymore.”

Two guards picked up all four bags of powder, leaving the old pilot broken down crying.

“Take care of your old man. He's a great man, we hate to see him like this!” they said to the girl. “We'll update your mapping system. Find him a rehab or something.”

The hatch closed behind them, the two IGS ship returned to their position and watched the freighter turn away.

“Should we worry?” Yawen asked.  
“Yeah! Worry they don't get overdosed on that shit!”  
“I thought they said…”  
“Like I said, bigger the name, smaller the scale. These guys are just kids wanting to play police. They're probably powdering up their nostrils right now!”

He jumped the freighter to an isolated spot and they made a thorough search in the freighter, made sure there were no more hidden surprises.

“What's a three point shave?” Yawen asked while screwing a panel in place.  
“What?”  
“One of the guards asked if you can do a three point shave with this ship.”

Cass finished his own panel and said:

“It's a racing term. Shortest route between two points is a straight line. Agree?” She nodded. “But in space there are lots of obstacles, planets, moons, asteroids. So to shorten the distance meaning flying as close to the object as possible, as close as shaving.”  
“Why three point?”  
“Shaving a planet takes great risk, the smallest miscalculation you'll be burned up in the atmosphere.” Cass paused, his mind drifted a second, then continued. “It takes experience and precision thinking, not something the computer can do for you.”  
“And to shave three planets?”  
“Meaning you'll have to consider shaving three planets simultaneously, because there are so little time between them.”  
“How many racers can do that?”  
“They all tried.” Cass said sadly. “And died.”

Patched up everything, they returned to the cockpit and set course.

“Can this ship do a three point?”  
“I'm not even sure it can do one.”  
“Let's try it! Ardin said this ship has a Star Destroyer engine.”  
“Ardin didn't say the ship was stashed either.”  
“She probably didn't know.”  
“Maybe you're right.” Cass thought. “We should have check. This one's on me.”

Even without the computer, Cass could read that they are just a few hours away from Mongarni, where the servant girl had decided to say her goodbye. He remembered her screaming in the bar crying not to leave her, it was the most painful thing to watch, and he had no intention to leave her alone in that damp and rainy place again.

“Okay, let's find a planet.” said Cass, anything to change her mind.

They studied the new map, a lot of territories had changed in the past two weeks. The Imperial colonies expended, some planets renamed, others disappeared. It was like looking at a different galaxy.

“Pick one.”  
Yawen randomly pick one.

“Okay, remember I explained when the computer plot a route, it will set a path to void large physical objects. Planets, moons etc?”  
She nodded.  
“The computer has a safety margin on keeping a certain distance away from the planet.”  
“To avoid being pulled into a planet's gravitation.” Yawen cut in.  
“Correct.” Cass said. “Now, these margins were standard to all planets. BUT! Different planets produce different gravities, so if some planets has less gravity. Say Quato, big giant gas planet, but with a core a millionth of it's volume.”  
“Then you can fly through it!”  
“No, but you can skimmed the surface way closer than the computer setting. But there's a catch. One would have to override the safety margin, and then fly the ship manually.”  
“During hyperspace?”  
“Near-hyperspace was the term we used, somewhere in between, but still extremely fast. One small mistake and you'll either get toasted in the atmosphere, or be swung out to the far end of the galaxy.”

They set a destination beyond the planet that Yawen had chosen, and then disable Vika, setting the path much closer than safety standard.

“How do we know if we've set too close?”  
“We don't, that's the risk.” Cass shrugged. “By time we slow to near-hyperspace we'll already be inside the gravity field. It'll be like awaking up in the water and to find the quickest way to the top. Ready?”  
“Ready.”  
“Hit it!”

The stars stretched and filling the windshield. Cass took the control, checked all the read outs and said:

“Okay, keep your eyes on the numbers. We'll be out in Three, Two, One!”

Light beams returned to stars, and a planet coming to them in unseen speed. A split second later they were already at the atmosphere. Before Yawen could react, Cass pushed full throttle to maintain speed, fighting against the planet's gravity, pressing the two into their seats, so hard they could hardly breathe. The whole ship rocked as it skimmed through the atmosphere at extreme high speed, the interior was filled with sounds of loose vibration and metal bending, as if the ship would torn apart.

"Does this sound normal to you?" Yawen yelled under all that rocking.  
"Nope! But it's a little late to do anything now, all you CAN do is fight ahead!" Cass yelled back. “Get ready to jump into hyperspace in Three, Two, One!”

The freighter jumped to hyperspace when it's just barely off the atmosphere, left a long trail gas dragged behind them.

“How was it?” He turned and asked.  
“That was...” Yawen gasped. “The most exciting thing I've ever felt!”  
“Do you want to try it?”  
“Can I? I'm not sure I could do what you just did.”  
“We'll jump out early, you'll have enough time.” He smiled.

They began by made a thorough inspection on the ship integrity  
They read out the data to the next planet.

“Are you sure?” asked Yawen again, her hands tight on the yoke.  
“Never give up my control unless I believe it!” He said. “Coming out in Three, Two, One!”

Out of hyperspace another planet showed up, except this time not flying toward them at extreme speed. Yawen switched her eyes between the gauges and outside view, then sudden the console went blank.

“We've lost the console!” She cried in panic.  
“I've turned it off!” said Cass. “You need to fly by instinct!”  
“But I can't! I don't know how close I'm flying!”  
“You can feel the gravity, can you not? This is the part where I said you can't rely on computers, you'll need your instinct. Feel the force!” said Cass, and then peeped away at a handheld screen displaying all the data, hidden from Yawen's view.

Yawen licked her lips, thinking he maybe joking. How could anyone fly without computers? And then it came.

Under all that rocking, a force built up not from the planet or ship, but from within her.

“Can you feel that?” Cass yelled next to her.  
“Is that it? That pull?”  
“Yes! That PULL!”

Never experienced such magnificent force, stronger and stronger, she felt her heart would be pulled out at any second.

“Okay! Ready for fight back!” Cass yelled in all that rocking.  
“How do I know when to? How do you know?”  
“When the force gets this strong, it's time to go!” Cass took one more look from handheld data and said.  
“Okay!” Yawen hand on throttle. “Jumping in Three! Two! One!”

The great planet disappeared behind them, the view once again returned to a hyperspace blur.

“Congratulations, you've just survived your first shave. How do you feel?”

Turning to Yawen, she did not reply, did not move, it was like time stood still. Until seconds later she blinked and let out a scream.

“THAT WAS THE BEST EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD!”

It was the first time seeing the servant girl so happy. Cass reminded her to check ship conditions intact.

“Okay, where are we?”  
“We're somewhere at the Gurillean sea.”  
“Ah, I know this place.” Cass pointed to a far sun. “When look at it from the right angle, sunlight refracted by the field would produce a rainbow. The most beautiful sight in the galaxy.”

Below them was a sea of asteroids stretched into Infinity, all flowing in the same direction, circling a central sun like a miniature galaxy.

“Let's move the ship to a better view!”

WARNING! HYPERSPACE EXIT PROXIMITY! Vika reported.

Above them a Star Destroyer appeared, and out came four TIE fighters and a speeder out of it's belly.

“Cass! Is that really you?” a male voice came through. “I can't believe anyone else who could pull that stunt in Mirron!”  
“I know that voice.” Cass murmured. “The IGS boys must have sold us out!”  
“Do you know him?” Yawen asked.

Cass turned on the radio and said:  
“Quintus! Did you quit driving school and work for the Empire now?”  
“Yeah! You know I always go for the higher bidder!”

“Who is he?” asked Yawen.  
“He replaced my title, after I quit.” Cass replied.  
“You didn't quit! You were FIRED!” Quintus snickered.  
“Same difference. You were the runner up until I left. YOU COULD NEVER OUT RUN ME!” Cass said it word by word as if something significant.

A moment of silence.

“Cut the crap, Cass!” said Quintus after pulling himself together. “You have someone the Empire want. A little girl. Hand over and we'll let you go.”

“Why would they want you?” Cass asked, Yawen went quiet. He turned to the radio and asked again. “Why would the Empire want a little girl?”  
“That's not my business. My job was to identify you and bring you in. Boy this is easy money!”  
“I bet the deal is: IF you bring me in.” Cass replied. “And you'll never catch me.”

Hearing Cass, Yawen started the engine.

“Now Cass, play nice and hand over the girl. You're literally caught between the rocks…” Quintus looked back at the massive Star Destroyer behind him. “…and a hard place. There are no place for you to…” The freighter dove into the sea of asteroids before he could say: “…run. Damn it. Cass!”

Unlike common asteroid fields, where the asteroids remain still in place, an asteroid sea carried countless asteroids moving in currents, randomly crushing into each other and bounced off, forming new currents into new directions.

“Have you done this before?” Yawen grabbed her seat as they dove deep into this suicidal path.  
“Trust me! We'll be fine!” Cass answered with uncertainty.

Inside the asteroid sea was a chaos of random traffics, rocks of all sizes flying in different directions. A TIE fighter turned to avoid one from crashing in, only to be crushed by another.

“The trick is keep going in the same direction. You keep moving and you'll stay alive!”

Yawen watched as Cass spin the freighter, skillfully avoiding in coming rocks by rolling and pitching, always clockwise, always upward, every time slipping closely from impact.

“Cass, you think you can out run me with that piece of junk?” Quintus' voice came from the speaker.  
“And you can't out run an old beat up freighter with a Formula, what will your fans say to that!”

“His speeder is smaller and faster.” Yawen worried.  
“Maybe on the race track. Out here it's all about skills, and I have them all!” BANG! The freighter took a heavy hit by a big asteroid, his tone changed instantly. “We're not gonna live long enough to out run them!”  
“And you're telling me this NOW??” Yawen yelled.  
“We need to go deeper, into the vortex. The flow there is faster.”  
“Faster?” For a second Yawen hoped she heard him wrong.

Not further ahead, beyond the layers of asteroids, were a flush of rocks moving so fast it looked like water.

“We're going into THAT?” Yawen screamed.

Cass steered the freighter into the high speed current, breaking right to match its speed.

“Don't worry, as long as we keep speed, we'll be among them.”

And he was right. What was a fast current of rocks from the cockpit slowed down as the freighter caught up.

“But wouldn't it be easier for them too?” Yawen leaped from her seat trying to look back.

A chain of energy blasters fired from behind.

“I love how you're smarter by the minute!” Cass yelled annoyingly.

He pulled up and inverted the freighter, flying head to head into the TIE fighters, fired the freighter's laser canon.

Unexpected a freighter to be armed, the TIE fighters skipped aside, but got hit by a high speed rocks, behind it the speeder was too close, flew right through the explosion.

“Damn it Cass! You nearly killed me!” Quintus cursed.  
“Isn't that the point?” Cass laughed.

The freighter steered deeper into the core, where asteroids were bigger but slower.

“Switch to air fuel.” Cass instructs.  
“Wouldn't that slow us down?”  
“Get ready to dump space fuel.”  
“Will they fall for it again?”  
“No, we play different!”

The freighter spilled a trail of silver fluid spread all over space, the speeder and the remaining pursuers all got sprayed.

“Cass, you disappoint me.” Quintus laughed. “We're in space, there's no gravity to drag us down this time!”  
“Nope, but there is THIS!”

He kicked start the energy, a spark ignited the flammable fluid. Space fuel was designed to ignite without the assist of air, so it could generate thrust in a vacuum.

The flame fired up the fuel on the TIE fighter's windshield, blocking the pilot's view, it flew straight into a rocky wall.

“Cass, you do know you're making it easier. Right?” Quintus looked at the illuminated tail, followed it with the last TIE fighter to his right.

Rocks were getting bigger and closer, so close they began flying through narrow gaps.

“This is not good!” Yawen watched the walls closing on them.  
“It's exactly where I want them.” said Cass.

“I see a pocket! Fighter, go round and block them from the side. I'll flush them out!” Quintus ordered.

He griped the yoke tight, eyes on the freighter ahead, firing blasters to bring it where he wanted it to be.

“Fighter, fire!” He ordered.  
Nothing happened, the freighter flew right through.  
“Fighter! FIRE!” He called again, no answer.

Frustrated, he kept the freighter in view while searching for the missing freighter, too busy to notice a movement between the rocks.

“When you need to get something done, better do it yourself!” Quintus focused on the targeting system, steering the freighter into his line of fire, finger at the trigger. “Goodbye Cass. I'll always be the champion!”

Suddenly a shadow casted over the speeder, something big crushed it from both sides. A giant long jaw twisted powerfully, ripping the little ship into pieces.

“What was THAT!” Yawen stunned.  
“It's a Kamainean Dragon.” smirked Cass. “It feeds on asteroid worms, their urine smells like burned space fuel!”  
“And you know this because?”  
“Childhood experience, servant girl!”

He turned the ship around, flew by the giant dragon, its head alone was twice as long as the freighter.

“Should we get so close?”  
“It can't see us, it can't smell air fuel.” Cass waved out the window. “Hello Toggie!”  
“You called it Toggie?”  
“I told you I know this place!”

They took a hiding spot right beneath the dragon's nest.

“Anything fly in will be chewed to pieces. We'll just have to lay low, long enough to make the Imperial think we got crushed in the asteroids.”  
“How long would that be?”  
“Why? Are you in a hurry?”  
Yawen shook her head.  
“Who are you? Why did the Empire wanted you?”  
She remained silent.  
“You're gonna be worth something. Something enough to send a Star Destroyer after.”  
Silent.  
“Okay, have it your way.” Cass gave up. “Wanna get something to eat? We're gonna be here for a while.”


	9. Parting

Chapter 9: Parting  
It took four days for the Imperial to withdraw. Cass kept his promise and brought Yawen to Mongarni.

Watching her leave was not the hardest, but to see a traumatic little girl walk into the unknown. He had seen many lost girls swallowed by the cruel world of Mongarni, none of them pleasant. So before they parted, he gave her a gift. A transmitter that could broadcast a special frequency only Vika can pick up.

“Anytime anywhere. If you ever need me, I'll come for you.” Cass showed how it works.  
“Thank you, Cass.” She took it and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for everything.”  
“Don't you try anything stupid now, d'you hear?”  
The servant girl smiled and walked down the ramp.

“Hey!” she stopped at her final step and yelled. “You really should give your ship a name!”  
“I have one.” AURI, Cass thought. “Come on back and I'll tell you!”

She chuckled and stepped off the ramp, just like in Mirron.

Yawen stood at this very same spot not long ago, screaming out Cass' name, crying helplessly. Perhaps that was how it meant to be, she thought.

She looked up and saw the same holographic dancing ladies, with colorful lights forever illuminating the raining sky. She looked at the small transmitter in her hand, watched it rolled off and fell into a nearby dumpster.

It was hours later that the transmitter was found.

“Damn it, Auri!” cursed Cass. It wasn't a transmitter, it was a locator. Now he truly lost her.

The bar was full of people, of different worlds and gender, everything but kids of her age.

“You lost, girl?”  
“Wanna go upstairs for a drink?”  
“How much for a game?”

The approaches made her uncomfortable, she kept her mouth shut and studied the place. She had heard such a place, where travelers paid for temporary pleasure, before they move onto their path. Scoundrels, criminals, offenders, every single one of them would eat her alive. She approached the bartender and asked:

“I need to go to Kaileron.” a place she chose at random.  
The bartender continued his things as if she wasn't there.  
“I need to go to Kaileron!” she said again louder.  
“Scram!” He threw her a dirty look.  
“What about Alcadia? Sissli?”  
The bartender continued to ignore her.

She refused to give up, went on asking the customers one by one, only to receive the same responds.

“Are you lost?”  
“Wanna a drink?”  
“Are you selling?”  
“Yes.” finally she said to a dark eye creature. If that's the only way to get them to talk. “Yes, I am selling.”

Not sure what exactly they were selling, she followed the creature to the back of the bar, thinking about the dagger still in her boot.

Reached into the back alley, the tall creature opened his long trench coat. To her surprise it wasn't a trench coat at all, but a pair of leathery wings. Inside were four boney arms unfolded like insects, reached into the pockets of his vest, picking and assembling equipment of some sort.

“Wha… what are you doing?” Yawen alarmed.   
“You ARE selling, aren't you?” In his hands, the instrument produced some kind of needle. “Now turn around and face the wall. This will only take a moment.”  
“No you don't!” said Yawen, drew out her dagger.  
“A sell is a sell. There's no going back now.”

The creature expanded its wings, blocking the entire alley way.

“Stay away!” yelled Yawen, backed herself to the dead end, poking her dagger aimlessly.  
“Alright, have it your way!”

One of its four boney arms raised a canister, sprayed out a white fog. Yawen caught a face full, fell to the ground instantly.

Her body went to sleep, leaving only her senses. Lying on her side she watched the creature approach, pulled up her clothes, made one last check on his instrument, and then it disappeared to her backside.

No! She cried silently. A moment ago she wanted to end, but not in this horrific way. She felt something pierced to her spine, deed and painful.

At the brink of this madness, a shadow flashed by, then two more. Behind her the sound of struggle, punch impacts, bottles smashed, and finally a heavy thump.

“Check his stomach! Aseedians keep marrows in their stomach!” One said.  
“Ew! That's gross!”  
“Not really, Aseedians has four stomachs to digest different forms of food, they often use the dry one to smuggle goods.”

The three of them cut up the creature, one punctured a hand into its stomach and fished out four canisters.

“Greedy bastard!” he weighted the canisters in his hand. “This is enough to buy a small ship! This bastard still wants more.”  
“What do we do with her?” the other asked.

Yawen was turned facing up. Above her were three muggers all dressed like mummies, wrapped in various stripes and bandages from head to toe. One squatted and ran through her pockets.

“She's empty.”  
“Leave her there!”  
“No.” said the alpha. “We can sell her too.”


	10. The Feeding Game

Chapter 10: The Feeding Game  
Yawen was locked in a cage, so little room that despite the drug wore off, she couldn't unfold her arms and legs. The limited space forced her to roll up into a human ball. Her hands were bounded behind her back, a gage ball shoved into her mouth with belts that tied behind her head.

The three sold her to a trader, who flew out of the city to some kind of farm. The farmer bought her and put her in the barn with other cages. There were live stocks, wild animals and people, all in cages stacked on top of each other. Yawen was put into what seemed to be the young humanoids category, there were four other cages, all young girls, gagged in the mouth with fear in their eyes.

They remain locked in their cages for what seemed like hours, until the farmer finally return, loaded up all five girls in their cages onto a crop freighter. The farmer jumped into hyperspace shortly after lifted off, made several stops to unload his stocks.

Yawen and the girls were dropped off at the third stop, it was a dark cold planet. Someone was already there to receive the goods, a man loaded up all five cages onto his truck and drove to an abandoned mine.

Why are they bringing girls to a mine? thought Yawen. Earlier she was ready to end her life, but now danger put her into a new alert.

The cages were loaded into an elevator and descended deep into the ground, and finally pushed into what seemed like a shower room, with stained tiles covering the wall and floor. Several men covered from head to toe in waterproof fabric and gas mask opened the cages and dragged the girls out. After long hours in small confinement, they offered little resistance.

“Remove your clothes.” One man said through his mask.

As expected, the girls protested, so he poked a long prod at the closest girl, she screamed and knocked back, as if got punched by an invisible fist.

“Remove your clothes, or we will do it for you!” The waterproof man said again.

Understanding the consequence, they all began to take off their clothes, started with Yamen. Right now pride was not her priority.

AS LONG AS YOU STAY ALIVE, THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY OUT! Cass's voice rang in her head.

All five girls stripped naked, covering their bodies in shame as all feminine species does.

The waterproof men took out trimmers and started cutting off the ones with long hair. Yawen stood as lock after lock of her long golden hair fell to the floor, until she was left at a bad short cut.

Then they were sprayed with hoses, showered their bodies with thick orange liquid. The liquid smelled strong of sweet and sour, and had a burning sensation to the skin.

All five girls were lead into a big round room, surrounding the curve wall were taller cages, each contained a young female. They are shoved into the remaining five that were empty.

With the pressed of a button, all cages raised together, ascending to the floor above. They found themselves in an arena filled with roaring audience, their cages were set around a muddy pit in the center.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” the loud speaker spoke. “You may place your betting!”

On top of each cage lighted up a number, the digits kept accumulating until the speaker announced:

“All bets are off! Games on!”

At the center pit a gate raised, a giant creature in scale skin crawled in, roaring and exposing its fangs.

A big red light glowed on top of one of the cages, it then move to the next cage, and then the next, circling around the cages. The crowd cheered, all screaming their luck numbers, until the red light slowed down and stopped.

The cage below opened its floor, the girl inside lost her feet and slide down a trench, landed in front of the giant creature.

Everyone cheered and watched the naked girl cried helplessly, the horrifying creature reached for the vulnerable girl, picked her up with its powerful claws, shoved her upper body into its giant mouth and closed. A crunch of bone breaking brought a thundering cheer and applause.

This is a roulette! Yawen realized.

The empty cage soon was replaced by another girl. The red light moved again, this time landed on the cage just beside Yanwen. The green skin girl was no older than her, pleading to be spared, slide down the trench into the open.

“Run!” Yawen yelled, banging on the cage, but the little girl was terrified to move. She watched helplessly as the monster tore her to pieces as if for pleasure.

“You sick bastards!” Yawen slammed her cage in rage, the first time ever to use foul language.

Soon the empty cage was filled in by another girl, this one a Sentarean, barely reach puberty by the color her feathers.

The game continued, the third victim was a human girl, and the forth a blue skin. Everyone in the arena focused on the red light, some for horror, most for laugh. Slowing down of the red light brought each girl more tension, some hoped it would stop before her, others hoped it would pass on, until finally it stopped directly over head.

“To hell with this!” Yawen braced herself as she slide down the trench, already looking for a good landing spot.

She reached the muddy round and slide right between the monster's foot, climbed back on her feet and ran toward the gate where the monster came in. It was locked as expected.

STAY ALIVE! Cass's voice inside her head. GRAB ANYTHING! USE AS A WEAPON!

But there were nothing to grab in the ring but mud and blood. The giant creature turned around, swinging its long arm toward her. She dropped flat on the floor, its rocky claws scraped a piece of skin off her back.

The pain was excruciating, but she had no time to loose, her eyes darted around and saw something sharp, something white, a bond, a victim's remain.

The heavy arm continued its path, given her time to run and pick up the bone. It was from a leg, its fracture made one end sharp and pointed. By time the monster turn back around, Yawen was already got behind it.

YOU KEEP MOVING AND YOU STAY ALIVE! She heard Cass said.

She ran around the monster in circles, kept its back towards her, buying time to find a striking spot. The monster was covered in scales, not easy to puncture.

Think Yawen! THINK!

Running barefoot on muddy ground was difficult, she turned fast but slipped, hurt her elbow on the ground. The pain was worse than the monster strike on her back.

JOINTS! Her mind flashed.

She quickly got back to her feet, just in time escaped the giant hand to grab her. She ducked and went between its legs again. The monster was so heavy that it had to keep steady feet when using its arms, given Yamen a stationary target. With both hands grabbing the long bone, she struck the sharp end into the back of the monster's knee.

Above her the monster let out a high pitch roar, not badly injured, but still hurt.

GOOD! Yawen thought, watched the giant monster limping. BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

She was ready for her second strike, dashing left and right to shadow the monster's movement, staying at its rear, just like Cass shadowed beneath the TIE fighter on Mirron. She watched the monster forced to shifting its weight to the injured leg as it make its turn, and then launched herself with all her weight, stabbing the sharp bone into the same spot, this time so hard it stayed in the wound, caused the huge leg to bend, brought the monster down on one knee.

This will take forever to kill this thing! she thought, must find a way out!

She looked down at her hands and then her body, she was covered in mud and blood from all that rolling. The keepers wouldn't just left these mess accumulate, they had to go somewhere! Her eyes darted quickly at the surrounding, looking for a drainage where the keepers would flush away the dirt.

The monster had one knee on the down, but still far from going down. Instead it got angrier, swinging the arms so hard it could hardly keep balance. Yawen ran along the curve wall, searching for any sign of drain, and there she found it. Barely visible, covered by mud and half blocked by torn flesh, was a manhole cover.

A shadow fell over her, she leaped without looking back, escaped a thundering punch in the nick of time. She draw the monster as far from the drain as possible, then cut across so close she almost ran into its giant leg. She reached the cover, slide her fingers in the handle tried to lift it, it's too heavy. The monster made another come back, throwing its momentum towards her, she jumped to the side, looking for something to pry the lid.

She found another bone, this one longer and intact, not sure if it belonged to the same victim. She jammed the bone's swelling end into the handle, putting all her weight to it, the cover moved slightly. The crowd realized her intention, yelling and throwing things at her.

The monster charge forward, its steps trembled the ground. Yawen gave her last push but failed, jumped away from impact. The monster crashed into the hard wall, its foot stepped onto the bone, flipped over the manhole cover like a coin.

Waste no time, Yawen ran to the monster, dove feet first into the small hole.

The tunnel was narrow and wet, its rocky wall cutting her as she slide down. In pitch dark she felt she fell into a moving river of trash, the water slimy and stink. She swam with the flow without directions.

The current changed, clearer and faster, she was washed into the wider tunnel. The path kept changing, each time faster than the last. There was nothing to hold on to, she could barely kept her head up, wave washed over her from different directions, she swallowed, taste of salty and bitter filling her mouth, until she finally saw a light.

It was the end of the sewage, washed into a wasteland. She used her last strength to crawl to the land, but just before she could take a breath, something zapped her. Her last vision was a waterproof man staring down at her, with a prod in hand.

“You think you could run away, little girl?”


	11. Recovery

Chapter 11: Recovery  
She dreamed of snakes biting her, hundreds of them. She tried to scream but her mouth was sealed. She tried harder, forcing her jaw to break open, let out a long cry of pain and sorrow.

Her face was plastered by some hard shell, she broke her hands free to grab off the wax substance that sealed up her face, and the rest of her body.

She found herself lying in a milky tub, and was stunned to see her body covered with big fat leeches. She screamed in horror, peeling them off as her jumped out tub.

“Stop it!” A female Rafariean said. “They are extracting the toxic out of you blood. You've got skin poisoning!”  
“I what?” Yawen turn to the voice.  
“You've been exposed to manemon juice, and then went for a swim in the toxic sewage. You should be glad your skin didn't melted!”

The Rafariean doctor had small black eyes but a big long trunk, she pointed it to Yawen's wounds and sniffed.

“They should really stop feeding Lester with manemon, it's bad for his system.”  
“Lester?”  
“That thing that almost ate you. They sprayed you with manemon because he liked the taste.” She went to her work station and brought back a cup. “Take this.”  
“What is it?”  
“Nutrients, and it helps to flush out the toxic.”

Yawen took the cup and drank, it tasted sweet and relief, best thing she had tasted in a long time.

“Now go back to the tub and lie down, it'll take days to get it all out of your system.”

The milky substance has already solidified on the surface, it cracked as she stepped in. She lowered until she was completely sunken to the base, hundreds of leeches swam up and nibbled at her skin but she felt nothing. She fell asleep before the tub solidifies again.

Over the next two days she had dozed on and off, the Rafariean doctor fed her nutrient regularly, and once asked her to step out so she could change the tub, replaced the yellowish substance with fresh white ones.

There's nothing she could do here but wait, taken the opportunity to recover.

I made it! Her thoughts to Cass. I'm alive, and I'm going to find a way out.

But what then? There was nowhere for her to go, it was why she ended up a monster snack. Maybe leaving Cass wasn't the wisest thing to do, but what else was there for her?

She was not afraid of what comes next. She didn't care anymore. All her life she was taught to think ahead, but over everything that happened, she had learned that nothing was predictable, so she rest, put herself in a quiet status and rest.

On the third day the doctor had her out again. She sniffed every inch of her body and satisfied.

“Now go shower and clean up. You'll find clothes there.”

So she took a long shower, powerful jet of water blasted onto her wounded skin from all directions, hurt but awaking. Her new short hair made her scalp felt sensitive and alert.

I should have cut it long ago, she thought.

She found a patient's robe, the kind that ties around the back, she put it on and went outside.

“These men will show you to your owner.” said the doctor, gestured the two waterproof men at the door.  
“My owner?”  
“Yes, you were purchased by a client. We had to deliver our merchandise in good condition.”  
“Merchandise?” How am I not surprised.

She was escorted to the upper level, the elevator opened to a line of doors, like a hotel. They went to the end of the corridor, the waterproof man knocked on the double door.

“Sir, your delivery has arrived.”  
“Bring her in!” a voice behind the door said.

The door slide open, inside was a white room with large windows, almost like a greenhouse. All the furniture were white, and far at the window a man stood up.

He was tall and slim and had a very long neck. His skin was tanned but carried a pattern of black and blue over his eyes, which she mistook to be sunglasses from a distance. He slowly walked up to her and said:

“Remove the robe. I want to see.”

The two men untied the robe and left Yamen naked. She stood proudly, nothing hurts her anymore. 

“Do you know who I am?” His voice so low it echoes.  
“No.” She replied.  
“Had no one brief you?”  
“I rather hear it from you.” She looked into his eyes and said.

Her answer surprised him, he chuckled in amusement.

“I am your new owner, so at anytime I can put you to death just like this.” He snapped his fingers.  
“Do it.” said Yawen looking into his eyes. “I've lived worse.”

Amused again, he walked around and inspect, satisfied, pointed to a door and said:

“You will find some clothes in that room. Go put it on, come back and I'll explain to you.”

It was a servant's room. Yawen had lived the high society long enough to recognize one. The wardrobe had a few choices, she picked the one most convenience, in case things take a bad turn. There were not pants, so she chose a light dress and flat shoes for kicking and running.

She returned and found the man sat at the window. He turned around and looked at her, made no attempt to ask her to sit down.

“So no one told you what's going on?”  
“I think I've already answered that question.”

He stood up, this time less friendly.

“My name is Osmen El Shari. You will refer to me as Master El Shari.” He started walking around her. “I run a skin trade business all over the galaxy, providing the right merchandise to my clients. I also run a small gaming commission myself.”

He returned to face her, expecting a question. She didn't.

“I need girls like you, girls that are young but brave, free fighters.”  
“Fighters?” asked Yawen.  
“What do you know about the ring?”  
“The ring? As in boxing ring?”  
“Similar, but fight to the death.”  
Same game, different rules, thought Yawen. 

“You will be taken to Gailron, where you will receive training, fighting skills mostly. Your physical will be watched. You will perform the entertainment to my audiences, and die in glory.”  
“Just like a gladiator.”  
“Yes.” El Shari said proudly. “Now I must warn you. Training is costly and many couldn't go through it. So I'm offering you a choice.”  
“That you will let me go now?” She asked in a flat tone. He chuckled.  
“Ha, not likely. But if you are not ready to go through it, I'll return you for my refund and you'll be thrown back in the pit.”

Seeing the girl went silent, he put both hands on her shoulders and whispered to her ear.

“And of course I don't have to tell you what happens if you try to run away.” referring to her getaway in the arena, he squeezed her shoulders hard. “AGAIN!”  
“I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere.” Replied the girl.


	12. Just Another Day

Chapter 12: Just Another Day  
WARNING! HYPERSPACE EXIT PROXIMITY! Vika reported.  
“Evasive maneuver!” Cass got out of his bunk, already felt the ship turning.

Vika integrated with the ship well, the system responded to it much faster than his old ship. The YT-1300 with modifications by its previous owners had given it four times the maneuver capability than manufacture standard, with a bonus of its inconspicuous outlook offered many free passes through custom security. Who would lay an eye on a beat up old freighter?

“What is it?” He came to the cockpit and asked.  
“Horizon class C automated commercial freighter.” Vika was also capable to read more information with the ship's sensor array, and spoke more human. “They are hailing us. Shall we ignore them as usual?”  
“Yes… No, wait!” Cass looked out at the commercial freighter. “I have an idea.”

Horizon was a major vending company. They launched tens of thousands unmanned vending ships into space, their navigation systems were programmed to track down nearby vehicles to sell convenience goods.

“Pick it up.” Cass ordered.  
“Hello Travelers!” A female droid voice came through. “Wouldn't you like some high energy drinks? Or some nice home cooked meals for a change?”  
“We're out of coffee!” Cass replied.  
“How convenient! We've just happened to have the best coffee from…”  
“We'll take it! We don't want anything else.”  
“Would you like some cream and …”  
“We DON'T WANT anything else!” He repeated.  
“Very well, please log in to your account to proceed payment.”  
Cass input one of his many fake accounts.  
“Access granted! Please proceed to our loading bay. Your order will be ready momentarily.”

The big vending ship had loading bays running along the sides. The freighter docked with its starboard side airlock. The hatch opened to a corridor with advertisements on both sides, Cass pulled a long cable over and plugged into a terminal.

“Vika, hack it!”  
“Processing.”

In the old ship Vika could have hack it through mid space. The new ship however didn't have such ability, so one had to connect physically.

“Thank you for using Vika system!” The ship's speaker announced.  
“Nice job, Vika!” said Cass. “What access can you gain?”  
“Life support, environment, logistics, loaders …”  
“Can you get the engines running?”  
“Negative. Navigation and fueling runs on separate system.”  
“Too bad! Just think we could steer the whole thing away!” He banged two times at the wall. “Load up Vika! We'll take what we can.”

Vika overtook the logistics and loaded the goods into their freighter, while Cass sipping a beer.

Just think if Auri is here, she would be thrilled! He thought.

It had been four years since her disappearance. He spent eight months looking for her, but there wasn't a trace, not even a girl that fitted her description. She seemed to have vanished from the galaxy.

* * *

He did ran into Ardin a few times though, and had became old friends and business partners.

“Cass! What force brought you to this end of the galaxy?” Ardin looked out from her tow ship.  
“Just dropping some seasonal gifts ahead of time!” He raised his beer in view, enough for her to see from the docking bay.

They sat and drink beer, watching the iron droid unloaded the goods from the freighter.

“Still no news about her?” Ardin looked at the old freighter, which Cass named AURI.  
“No.”  
“Do you think she's dead?”  
“Sometimes.” He took a sip of beer. “Sometimes not.”  
“D'you think she maybe avoiding you?”  
“Maybe. I just want to know that she's safe. That's all.”  
“Why is she so matters to you?”  
“I don't know.” He sighed. “She reminds me of someone special.”  
“Old girlfriend?”  
“More like an apprentice.”  
“Wanna tell me about it?”  
“I rather not go there...”

Ardin yarned, finished her beer and was about to get up when Cass began.

“…her name was Everlyn.”

She popped open a new bottle.

“It was at the fall of the game, when racers were treated like fan idols, more focused on exposure than actual talents. The company wanted someone capable of both, someone young and pretty but also good at racing. They found one.”

“Everlyn Moore, fourteen years old, bright and smart. I became her mentor.”

“It takes more than good flying to become a racer. You need quick thinking, sharp instincts, think outside the box, able to make precision judgments at split seconds. She wasn't up to it.”

“The company pushed her schedule, to compete with the adults. They put her in Grand Formula.”

“No shit!” Ardin gasped.

“I strongly against it of course. So they replaced me with someone else.” Cass sipped on his beer. “A week later her ship flew too close to a planet, burned to ash in the atmosphere.”  
“Cass, I'm very sorry.” said Ardin.


	13. Lost and Found

Chapter 13: Lost and Found  
She woke up from a dream, of something long forgotten. She climbed out of bed to get some water, leaving her two playmates sleeping.

Tina and Luna, two pleasure girls given by one of her clients, he said they would keep her happy, but Ava knew he simply enjoy watching them made out, to fulfill his own pleasure.

She carried the glass of water to the window, stared out into the sleeping city. Koron was a planet of entertainment, but the government insisted on keeping a decent appearance, banning all advertisement and business after dark. Of course, anything not seen from the planet surface were otherwise.

She has just survived the ring the night before, killed off an opponent much stronger than herself, but left her with cuts and bruises. They will go away soon, they always will.

She put on her clothes and left the hotel, wanted some coffee and fresh air. She found a subway entrance and took the escalator down.

The subterranean of Koron was a totally different world. Businesses never sleep there, nor did the people. She found a small cafe and sat, ordered her favorite coffee, watched the pedestrians moving. It was the only time she felt fitted in the normal world.

“Auri?” a voice called from behind. “Auri?”

AURI, a name she barely remembered. After survived her first two fights, her manager had her changed to something tougher.

“Auri?” It was an old lady in plain clothes. She could see her reflection from her coffee pot.

“Auri?” she called again, reaching a hand to touch her.

She could have caught her hand and twist it off, but instead she shifted away, left the old ladies hand in the air.

“You've got the wrong person, ma'am.” said Ava.

The old lady took a long look at her, her lips started to tremble, her eyes red and teary, broke down and cried.

“I'm so sorry!” A boy rushed to apologize. “She had a bad condition.”  
“Better had her looked up.” Ava adjusted her clothes.  
“Couldn't help. Mom had been like this since Auri disappeared.”

Since Auri died... Ava thought, the memories returned.

“My sister served the Royal family in Darliya. We haven't heard from her since the attack. Mother and I have been looking for her since.” The boy explained. “We looked everywhere but fail, now mother would approach anyone name Auri. She learned that your former name was Auri, so she followed you. I'm very sorry for this!”  
“And who are you?” asked Ava, afraid of his answer.  
“My name is Teri, Auri's brother.”

And for a moment, she saw Auri's resemblance on the boy's face, her blood boiled and rushed to her eyes, turned into tears burning her eyes. She held back like she had grasped all these years, but this is more excruciating than anything she experienced in the ring.

Auri is dead. She wanted to tell them, but not even after all these dark years, she couldn't bring herself to tell a family that she was responsible for the death of their child.

“I… your…” she choked in words. “I'm sorry! I have to go!”

She collected her things and ran, crushing into pedestrians, lost in direction, afraid, an experience she once had.

“cass” She heard a young girl's voice called out, her younger voice.

She found an exit and ran back up to the sleeping city. It was nearly dawn, the sky began to lighten up. She leaned on a pillar and threw up, suffocated by memories. Never had her felt so weak, or had she simply just forgotten?

Her phone rang and she picked it up.

“Ava, where are you now?” It was her manager. “Are you alright?”

He knew very well where she was. The locator they planted in her gave him pinpoint location. It must have spiked by her heart rate and triggered the alarm.

“I'm all right. I was just out for a cup of coffee.”  
“Well come on back when you're done. We have an early flight to catch.”  
“Yes, dad.” She hanged up.

It was how she referred to her manager, a little sarcasm for her own amusement. Years of sacrifices had earned her trust and respect from Master El Shari, which put her manager into an assistant position.

She stared up at the hotel window that was her room, the girls must still be sleeping, it gave her a moment to think whether she should return to her world of blood and sex and violence. She looked at her inner wrist, a tattoo branded by her Master, a signification of his property.

She chose to walk away.

An hour later she walked out of an alley with a bandage on her neck. She had her locator removed, and dyed her hair black. The tattoo was un-erasable, so she wrapped a bandage around that too. Her phone was next, but not before her Master called her personally, he must have sensed her locator got deactivated.

“Ava, what's going on? Are you alright?” asked Master El Shari.  
“I need time alone.”

A silent came from the other end. Her Master and his men must be busy tracking her from a dozen devices. So she stopped walking and looked into a security camera from the street.

“What's wrong? Talk to me Ava.”  
“I just want some space.”  
“Alright. Take a vocation. A week off, a month.”  
“I need longer than that. I need my life back.”  
“You know I can't let you do that, Ava.” said the Master, watching her from the monitor. “You know you can't run away from me. You've seen the consequences.”  
“I will try my best.”

From the monitor, the Master and his men watched as Ava dumped the phone into the nearest trashcan, and soon disappeared in a blind spot.

“Find her!” The Master panicked.


	14. Paying the Debt

She went back to the cafe where she last saw the family, tried to find them. She felt obliged to pass them the news of their daughter.

She headed to the opposite direction when she left, thinking it maybe where they would be heading. She found them two blocks away down in a back alley, the old lady broke down crying, her son could barely hold her upright.

“There's something I need to tell you.” Ava said. “Do you have a more private place?”

They took her to a shelter, the place jammed with homeless people.

“It's all we could afford.” The boy apologized again, offered her a seat and a glass of water.

Ava received the glass with thanks, took a long sipped, building up her courage. She couldn't keep her eyes off Tori, who look more and more like his sister by the minute, even his accent and movements, which made things all an awful lot harder. Before she could speak, some one gasped from behind.

“Your Highness!” An old man said.

It was Auri's father, he presented Auri on her first day of work, constantly reminded her how proud she made her family felt. The old man bend to one knee and bow.

“No! I'm not …” She backed away.  
“Your Highness! We thought you were dead!”

More and more people kneeled to addressing her title.

“Your Highness is alive! Darliya has hope!”  
“Our people are saved! You are the last of the bloodline!”  
“We are at your service! Please show us the way!”  
“No, I'm not …” finally she also fell to her knees and cried. “I'm not worthy to be your princess!”

Tears fall like raindrops, years of suppression all let out at once, she broke down and wept, harder than ever since the day of her lost.

According to Auri's father, Darliya was destroyed by some weapons of mass destruction, anything within the perimeter turned into wastelands.

Shortly after the Imperial left came invasions by the King's old rivals, seven nations fought for resources, Darliya was torn apart. Then came civil war, poverty, starvation, diseases. Those who were capable left Darliya, others took refugees, scattered across the galaxy searched for new homes.

Yawen shivered, all her suffers in the ring seemed nothing compared to what her people went through.

Auri's mother refused to believe her daughter was dead, travelled from planet to planet, spent their last savings in hope to find their daughter. Along the journey they met other families, they shared sympathy and gave each other supports, together they search for the lost ones from Darliya.

“Auri died saving me.” Yawen finally said it, it came out easier than she thought. “She was holding the door when uncle Nobi was taking me away.”

She expected harsh words but instead the mother told her husband:

“Did you hear that, Dear? Our Auri died in honor!”  
“Thank you Your Highness, for bringing us the news!”

The father bow again, his family filled with tears of joy. It was not the response Yawen had expected, but it brought her the most relief.

“Inform the others!” One told the others. “The bloodline is found!”  
“Wait, what?” Yawen puzzled.  
“Your people, your Highness. There are people looking for you.”  
“Looking for me for what?”  
“To rebuild your kingdom, and our home of course!”  
“But … Darliya was destroyed, there is no home!”  
“There are parties looking for that too!”

Seeing the young princess puzzled, an old man stepped out and explained.

“We were not looking for people randomly, your Highness. We formed different parties, some search for new land, some search for lost ones, some collect resources, some rebuilding our force.”  
“Our force?”  
“Yes, your Highness. We must protect our people, to take back what's ours.”  
“Against the Empire?”  
“Maybe not today, not a year, maybe not in my lifetime.” The old man amused. “But what I cannot finish, my sons will continue, and then his sons and grandsons. This is the power of hope, your Highness. It was how Darliya was built. This is how all civilization were built.”

Hearing the old man, Yawen finally saw a shed of light, until she remembered what she did as Ava in the pass years.

“No.” She said. “I am so pleased to see you getting stronger, but I cannot be your princess. I've been.... broken. I am not the princess you thought I was.”  
“Why? Your Highness?”  
“I … cannot explain. I am not who you think I am.” She couldn't helped touching her tattoo under the bandage. A murderer and a whore...  
“But we cannot hold together without your Highness. You are our hope.”  
“YOU are their hope.” said Yawen. “You are Darliya's hope!”  
“But…”  
“I'm sorry!”

She pushed the people away and broke herself a path, ran out of the shelter and kept running.

YOU CAN'T RUNAWAY! Master El Shari's voice kept telling her.

The party fell silent after Yawen left, along with their hope.  
“What do we do now?” One asked.  
“Will she come back?”  
“She's young.” said the old man. “We shouldn't put so much burdens on her. She's barely a child”  
“I'm fifteen.”

Everybody turned, their young princess stood at the door, arms crossed and leaning against the frame.

“I'm not a child anymore!”

They spent all night briefing Yawen; where everyone are, how many of them, condition of men, everything. The old man Elrond was their leader, a retired captain who once served in the Golden Army, had agreed with Yawen to keep the bloodline in secrecy.

“All references of PRINCESS or YAWEN or the ROYAL BLOODLINE should not be mention.” said Yawen.  
“Then how would your Highness prefer to be call?” Elrond asked.  
“Your Highness is definitely out of the question too.”  
“Apology, my lady! Old habits die hard!”

Her response drew a bunch of laughter, Yawen could already see a change of spirit in the people. Maybe I could really make a different! She thought. She turned to the servant's mother and asked.

“Ma'am, if I may have the honor, to carry your daughter's name?”  
“The honor is all mine!” the old lady was pleased. “My Auri would be very proud.”  
“Then I shall be named Auri, in memory of her bravery.”  
The crowd cheered with applause.

If I couldn't do the right thing for myself, at least I can do it for them! Thought Yawen.


	15. Scaven

Chapter 15: Scaven  
Peak hour was finally over, Gal handed out the last package and sighed, removed her glasses to wipe away the grease collected on the lens.

“Gal! Give me fourteen burgers, charcoal burned outside, bloody inside. All meat, no source ,no veg!”

The cashier even didn't bother to look up, continue wiping her glasses and yelled:

“CHIEF! YOUR CUSTOMER!”

The old Chief walked out and took a long look at the young customer, tried to identify her.

“Why fourteen burgers?” He asked.  
“Because last time I only ate six!”

It took a moment for the Chief to process, doubting his own judgment.

“Auri?”  
The girl smiled nodded.  
“AURI!! IT IS YOU!!” He picked her up with his giant hands, squeezing her. “Look at you! All grown up!”  
“Does that mean I can close the store now?” asked Gal, still cleaning her glasses.

Chief put her down, she was much taller now, although no match his giant size.

“Chief, I'll like you to meet someone, my uncle Elrond.”

Out came an old man stood tall and firm, his hand in his pocket, hidden. From one look the Chief could tell this is no ordinary man.

“Uncle Elrond, eh? Have been in the service?”  
“Thirty years!” The old man replied with proud, hands still in pocket, picking.  
“Twenty eight.” said the Chief himself. “That hand won't fool me. Your gunners should be more stealthy though, they've got shoot me written all over their head!”

A click in the chamber, a green laser beamed lighted up from the roof, pointed directly to a man hidden not far from the Chief. Gal in her nerdy glasses, was armed with a quad laser canon pointing.

A stalemate. Everyone remained dead still, any misread movements could trigger a disaster. Then there were chuckles, both men walked up and laughed.

“Seen that trick before?” Elrond ask.  
“Not in the past decade!” The Chief padded Elrond on the back. “Come on in! And your men too!”

Not much had changed inside the cooling tank, with limited space Elrond ordered his men to eat at the roof and stay on watch.

“These burger taste really good!” Elrond munched. “What is it made of?”

Yawen exchanged eyes with the Chief, deciding who should break the news.

“Rats.” Yawen said.  
“Funny, Auri.” laughed the old man. “I've ate worse when I was at war!”  
“No, uncle. Really, they are rats.”

The old man looked at what he had been spitting out, face turned pale.

“That way.” Both Yawen and the Chief pointed.

They bursted out laughing at the sound from the toilet.

“Always got them the first time!” laughed the Chief, handed Yawen a beer. “You seem to handle yourself pretty well?”  
“Well, I've ate worse too!” She used Elrond's tone, took a mouthful.  
“So where have you been all these years?”  
I've been in hell. She thought.  
“Do you know Cass is looking for you?”  
“Cass?” Her eyes brightened. “He was HERE?”

Anytime anywhere! If you ever need me, I'll come for you! She remembered his last words, and he hasn't given up all these years!

“He comes once a year asking about you. Boy, he'll be thrilled to hear from you again!”  
“Where is he now?”  
“Last time I heard, he got into trouble with the authority, vandalizing a vending machine or something...”  
“Vandalizing? A vending machine?” Has he gone so low?  
“Big vending machines.” Chief sized it with his hands.  
“So where is he now?”  
“On his way to prison I suppose. His friend went to help him out. Some dark skin girl, Hadin I think.”  
“Ardin!”

* * *

Transporting prisoners was a boring job, nobody was in a hurry to deliver a ship full of lowlife scums to the ass end of space, so the system saved cost by using ships that had no hyperdrive. One often joked that the journeys would take longer than the sentences itself.

And since most prisons located in far off sector, one rarely come across any commercial ships for the miserable crew to let out.

“Hello Travelers!” A female voice came through. “Wouldn't you like some high energy drinks? Or some nice home cook meals for a change?”

A perfect wakeup call to the crew, all pressed against the window drooling at the big vending ship like water on a desert.

“How did it get here?” One asked.  
“Probably got lost. These ships jumped randomly.”  
“Who cares? I want fresh coffee!”  
“I want a decent meal!”  
The crew built up a riot.

They made a long list of purchases, didn't even leave the dock before heating up and chewing down their hot fresh desires. Thirty minutes later they slept lazily in their chairs. A figure came in through the hatch.

“Nothing sleeps better than a hot meal,” smiled Ardin, stretching her fingers. “And a heavy dose of sedatives!”

She found the security card from one of the crew, slipped it into the console and found what she was looking for.

“And that fellows, was how I single handedly took down eight Imperial TIE fighters!” Cass boasted to other cell mates.  
“Eight eh? The numbers just keep on rising!” A familiar voice came from the corridor.  
“Ardin!” Cass ran to the gate. “I was starting to think if you ever get here!”  
“Saving your old ass? No!” She shook her head. “Taking up a con ship? Yes!”

She slipped the card through the scanner and Cass's cell doors popped opened.

“Hey lady! What about us?” Other cell mates complaint.  
“Sorry boys! I'll tell your mama to get you real soon!”

Looking out of the cockpit, a tow ship jumped out of hyperspace.

“Just in time, Astrid!” said Ardin.

The iron droid hooked up to the prison ship. Under Ardin's instructions he unloaded the sleeping crew onto the lifeboat, input destination and punch up the engine. The little boat ejected from the mother ship, slowly heading into deep space. No point killing them.

The eleven prisoners onboard were a different story. Cass opened a distress signal and called out:

“MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY! WE WERE ATTACKED BY METEOROID! HULL INTEGRITY UNSTABLE! WE HAVE TO JUMP SHIP!”

Whenever the system receives a distress call, the Marshal department would automatically assume prisoners escape, and immediately launch a search party after them. (Search party for crew will be arranged by the insurance company.)

Should the party failed to find the prisoners over a period of two weeks, the status of these prisoners would changed from HOLDING to FUGITIVE, and their names would be forwarded to the bounty hunter list.

Which isn't so long for the eleven prisoners onboard a class A vending ship. Unlike the class C, class A vending ship was a moving mall, with facilities such as gym, restaurants and motel rooms. Having overridden the payment system, the eleven prisoners were enjoying the time of their life, fully utilizing the facilities, getting free food and drinks at the reach of their hands.

Cass and Ardin locked them in the vending ship and disabled the engine, wait for their name to show up on the bounty list, and then auction them to bounty hunters one by one.

They left the vending ship dead in the junk layer that spread across the planet's atmosphere. Vika not far away, maneuvered the light freighter to dock with the tow ship.

“Will they be okay there?” Ardin took a last look at the vending ship.  
“Don't worry! Nobody comes here!”  
“You do! What kind of man lives in a trash duster?”  
“A smart one!” Cass displeased “Okay, Ardin, see you in two weeks!”  
“You stay out of trouble now, d'you hear?”  
“Yes, mom.”


	16. The Parties

Chapter 16: The Parties  
Yawen boarded the Oreno, the flagship of the search party, lead by captain Elrond. They have reached an unnamed moon of Juvilien, a cold planet covered in a thick shield of ice. Despite how much she wished see Cass, she felt obligated to meet the necessary parties.

“It was a secret refinery ran by the Nahees, they used it before the war to supply fuel to …”  
“…to built the foundation of the Empire.” Yawen nodded. “Smart. It provides the perfect cooling system, and help to hide the massive heat generated during refinement.”  
“That is correct, Auri.”

Once again surprised by the young princess. What happened to her? Elrond thought. She had been avoiding the conversation of her missing years, and now she showed up a completely different person.

The Oreno landed on the only men made structure on the infinite ice world. It was a large platform, with a hanger covered in thick ice. They must have sprayed water and freeze it for camouflage. Though Yawen.

Inside the hangar was empty. Their pilot steered the ship to a corner, exchanged codes through the radio, the floor descended.

“The Nahees never wanted it back?” asked Yawen.  
“As far as they know, we've demolished the place and it's filled with radiation. We have been the only occupants in the last decade.” Elrond replied. “Now I must warn you, we have been using it as a military outpost, the facilities are quite basic.”  
“It's all right uncle Elrond, I've been in worse places.”

Ate worse, seen worse, lived worse. It's all she ever said. Elrond knew better to ask further.

The elevator descended for a very long time, until it finally rested in a large underground hanger. Six other crafts already lined up on one side, the Oreno took the seventh.

The air was surprisingly warm, Yawen wanted to take off her flight jacket but Elrond insisted. The captain had been much tended to her, especially to her title, insisted that she should dressed dignified, so Yawen chose flight suit, pants and work boots, the engine boy image that she once hated, but had found it most convenience. She also wore a bracelet on her wrist to hide her tattoo.

“Elrond, all the other Parties are here.” The man who greeted them said.  
“Very well.”

The man lead them to a small cart, drove into one of the tunnels. The old refinery was full of pipes and machines, added on facilities of the Darliyeans.

The floor plan was like a spider web, with the hanger being the center, stretched six ways into all directions. There were five rings in the floor plan, started with the operation sectors and expanded to the living quarters.

The driver turned into the third ring, where lines of smaller sections were divided into offices and storages. They got off the cart and Yawen caught a group of men from the far corner.

“What are they doing?”  
“Combat training, Auri.” Elrond answered without looking. “One has to stay fit, both mentally and physically.”

The instructor was a rugged hair and full bear in his late twenties, a series of tattoos ran from his left shoulder to the back of his neck. He was teaching hand-to-hand combat. The instructor spotted them, chucked and walked swaggeringly toward them.

“And who is he?” Yawen asked.  
“That's Jonah, a soldier boy.” Elrond answered distastefully.  
“Hey El, babysitting little girls now?” Jona smirked at Elrond.  
“This is her Highness for goodness sake!” Elrond said with a temper. “Show some respect!”  
“Princess? Really?” He checked Yawen from head to toe. “Looks more like an engine boy to me!”  
“Auri, we have more important things to tend to!”

Elrond pulled Yawen away. Behind them Jonah called:  
“Be seeing you, Princess! It can get very lonely down here!”

“Is he always like that?” asked Yawen, turned back for one last look.  
“I do apologize, Auri. He's a spoiled seed!”  
“Who's seed?”  
“My sister's, unfortunately!”

They arrived in a small meeting room, with just one long table and ten chairs. Six men stood up and bowed to her. Elrond addressed the princess's presence, and introduced all the members.

The Seven Parties, including Elrond, are post for different duties: Military, Administration, Energy, Technology, Education, Exploration, and Resources.

“Please, no bowing.” Said Yawen as polite as she could. “Thank you for your precious time and effort. My father and grandfather would be very proud.”  
“It is our honorable duty to rebuild your kingdom. Your Highness.” A man said, others nodded.  
“I am a Delavigne, and I carry the blood of the Royal, the hope of the Darliyeans.” said Yawen. “But I am weak. I have no experience on ruling a kingdom. So until I do, you will continue your duties as you were.”

“I want you to remember. This is not my kingdom. This is your kingdom, because you are building it, with your sweat and blood, for the people you love. I am merely a symbol of Darliya, you are who matters. And until I am truly worthy to be a Delavigne. You need not address me in my title.”

She looked at all seven members and saw their approval, then she approached the master seat. It was customary for the Royals to sit first, she must sit so everyone can.

Each of them took turn to report their present status, occasionally explained to Yawen what she needed to understand. She gave no opinions, just listened in. A smart move from the old captain's thought.

* * *

“What now?” Jonah asked annoyingly, hated to be disturb in the middle of the night.

It was not the first time he was summoned, most of them regarded to discipline problems from his uncle. The guards who brought him didn't reply, simply pushed him through a door and locked it.

It was his training room, all three walls decorated with various weapons, from knives to sticks to poles. The princess was looking at the collection, with her back to him.

“You could have just called.” Jonah smirked.  
“I did.” She turned around and cocked her head smartly. “And for a second there I thought your men wouldn't carry out.”  
“My men respect the code and so do I.” said Jonah. “So what do you want? An apology for disrespecting the Royal?”  
“I want you to fight me.” She smiled.  
“So you can exercise your royal power?”  
“I don't need power.” Yawen removed her jacket, wearing only a tank top.  
“Wu…wait. What are you doing?” Sensing the unusual, Jonah backed away.

Yawen was in loose pants and barefoot. Jonah was called from bed, he was in his tank top and pajamas bottom.

“I don't wanna fight you.”  
“Because I'm your princess?” Yawen took a step forward.  
“Because I don't like to hit women.” He took a step back.  
“And let me tell your men you got your ass kicked by a girl?”  
“Tell them what you like. I don't …”

Before he could finish his sentence, Yawen darted forward, hitting his bit of stomach with both fist. Her fists were small, but added her body weight produced a powerful piston, knocked Jonah off his feet.

Surprised and out of breath, Jonah knew she was serious. He climbed back to his feet and got into position. Seeing Yawen launched again, he crossed his elbows to block her attack, but his blocks were empty, the young girl shifted to his side, back elbowed him hard on his right cheek.

Precision strike, lightning fast, this girl knew her moves. He thought.

“Okay, you wanna fight? Let's fight!” Jonah raised his guard, punched the air to work his muscles. “All gloves are off!”

Into attack mood, Jonah threw a series of punches, Yawen dodged expertly, responded every move with her own attack, knife edge to throat, palm to chin, every strike hard and precise. She gotten so close she wrapped her legs around his waist, no room for him to counter attack.

Having no choice, he reached up and slammed down his elbow, striking the right side of her neck and shoulders. The powerful impact knocked her loose temporally, he threw a low punch into her abdomen, sending her ten feet away.

Yawen was on the ground, with one hand covering her stomach, panting painfully. Realized what he had done, Jonah said:

“I'm so sorry … I didn't mean to…”

That was when he saw changes. The girl's panting became laughter, the most chilling laugh he had ever heard.

“That's more like it!” Even her voice changed, deep like an adult. “That's what I'm talking about!”

The girl crawled to her hand and feet, her head in a lower position, like an animal ready to strike. She smiled exposing her teeth like a wolf showing it's fangs.

She launched forward again, this time Jonah raised his guards ready to defend, but to his surprise Yawen skipped to the left, hopped on the wall and rebounded to his side. Jonah raised his elbow to block, but Yawen rolled in mid air, passing his left arm down to his back, hooked one arm around his neck and swung her body under his right waist, brought her legs around up front, kicked Jonah right on the nose.

Jonah fell back a few step and found his feet. Yawen was again in her animal position. It was nothing he ever seen. She displayed her fangs and launched again.

Instinctively Jonah grabbed a stick from the wall and swung forward. Anything to stop her! He told himself.

To his surprise, Yawen slipped her neck into the line of his swing, but instead of an impact, she used the force as a pivot point, rotated her body like a cartwheel, head down and feet up, kicked her opponent's side of the face.

Nearly knocked unconscious, Jonah backed against the wall for balance. Yawen was on the move again.

“Wait…” Jonah raised a hand to stop.

This time she rolled low between his legs, pushed her shoulder against his inner thigh, throwing him off balance to the ground. She hopped and landed her knee on his chest, knocking the air out of him. She grabbed his head with both hands, biting down hard on his lips.

“Stop!” He yelled painfully.

He struggled hard, but she had her arms and legs locked tightly to his upper body. He rolled to the top, climbed to his feet and carried her into the opposite wall, knocking her out of air.

He backed off, watching the girl lean panting against the wall.

“You're crazy!” He cursed with a bleeding lips.  
“Oh I'm more than that!” Yawen smiled again, licking his blood of her lips.

She threw herself at him, using her head as a canon, crashing into Jonah's heavy structure, knocking both against a rack of weapons, broken it.

Jonah leaned forward, using his own weight to slam her down to the ground. Biting her lips for revenge.

The two wrestled on the floor, biting and grabbing, Yawen tore off his tank top and bite on his tattooed shoulder, he tore of hers to bite on her neck, turned their struggle to passionate, violent sex.

The conflict ended with Jonah panting naked on the floor. Yawen already put on her clothes.

“Well, I'm glad we had this talk.” She turned and looked at the defeated opponent. “Of course I don't have to tell you to keep this all to yourself?”  
“Which part?” asked the exhausted Jonah.  
“Gotten your ass kicked, of course!” She bend down and smiled. “Unless you want to tell the part where you got raped by a little girl too?” She padded him on the cheek. “Good night soldier boy! I'll see you at the hanger!”

* * *

The conference took two days to adjourn. Yawen formally blessed every member at their departure as the Royal usually do, until there was only Elrond by her side.

“Uncle Elrond.” She asked.  
“Yes, Auri”  
“Now that the Seven confirmed my existence, I feel my duty here is completed.”  
“For now. The people of Darliya will be much stronger knowing you are alive.”  
“There is someone I need to find. A friend.”  
“Ah yes, your friend. I have already arranged the search parties to keep an eye.”  
“Not good enough. He can hide like nobody. Only I know how to find him.”  
“Do you think it is wise? Your mere existence bears symbol to our hope. We cannot afford to lose you again.”  
“I will keep in touch, and will travel with company.”

The old captain weighed his decision, and then said:

“Very well, Auri. I shall dispatch a team to escort you.”  
“That's not necessarily, Uncle. One is all I need.”  
“One? Anyone in particular?”

Right after he said it, a sharp voice called from behind.

“Jonah Benn reporting for duty. Your Highness!”  
“JONAH!” Elrond turned, gasped at his nephew's appearance.

Jonah stood straight in full combat uniform, rifle on one shoulder, duffel bag on the other. His face covered in cuts and bruises.

“What happened to you?”  
“Her Highness brought me in for a little… talk.” Ignoring Yawen’s giggles, he continued. “She asked me to escort her on her trip. Sir!”

The young nephew spoke so formal it caught Elrond wordless.

“You want him to be your escort? Are you sure, Auri?” The captain asked her.  
“I can do fine by myself, but just in case I'll need some heavy lifting.”  
“Can you do the task, Jonah?” Elrond turned back to his nephew. “Can you protect Her Highness?”  
“Probably not.” Yawen laughed. “But like I said, heavy lifting.” She smiled at the grunting Jonah.

They boarded a small shuttle, loaded and fueled for the long journey. Yawen came into the cockpit and found Jonah on the pilot's seat.

“Get off my seat!”  
“No way! I've seen how women fly!” protested Jonah.  
“Are we gonna have this conversation here? Or do you want to take it outside?”

Jonah glared back at her, his right cheek still hurts from the other day, rose reluctantly and moved to the copilot seat. Yawen took the pilot seat, flipped on the controls expertly, spoke to the radio:

“Control, this is Ava One request permission to take off.”  
“Ava One?” asked Jonah.  
“Why not?”

A moment later, Elrond’s voice replied:  
“Ava One. Permission granted! May you return safely. Godspeed!”

Yawen steered the shuttle onto the platform, began their long ascend to the surface.

“So, what's your order, princess?” asked Jonah doing his flight check.  
“We're going to look for a ship. A Corellian YT-1300.” She punched on the console.  
“Shit!” Jonah sunk to his seat. “Do you know why they called it the 1300?”  
“Because the manufacture wished to sell thirteen hundred orders a month?”  
“Exactly!”  
“So?”  
“So do the math. We'll be looking at tens of thousands of freighters of the same model! A needle in a haystack!”  
“More like a haystack in a haystack really.” She shrugged.  
“Wow, you’ve just made it sound so much easier now!” Jonah said in sarcasm.

The platform has reached the surface. Yawen started the thrusters.

“Hey wait! We're not out the hanger yet!” alerted Jonah, before he felt a force pressed him into his seat so hard he couldn't talk.

The shuttle was pushed to its limit before it lifted off the ground. Yawen pull the yoke and tilted it into a vertical take off.

“Standby for hyperdrive.”  
“Hey wait! We're still…”

Yawen punched in the hyperdrive throttles. This moon had no atmosphere, so the shuttle jumped into hyperspace only shortly after leaving the surface.


	17. The Old Team

Chapter 17: The Old Team  
Jonah threw up just as soon as they jumped out of hyperspace. Yawen had been practicing her planet shaving, not something a standard soldier was trained for.

This is the forth junkyard planet they visited. It appeared that no one knew where Cass lives, not even the Chief, and Ardin was nowhere to be found. Her only clue was a planet with an atmosphere full of junk.

“We're not gonna find anything here.” Jonah took one at the planet and said.  
“I just want to make sure.”

Among the sea of junks Yawen spotted a vending ship.

“Vending machines!” She spoke out her thoughts.  
“They're everywhere. They jump randomly from place to place.” Jonah gulped down a full glass of water, collapsed onto a dining room chair.  
“No. Chief said he was doing something with the vending machines. He may have meant a vending ship.”

Jonah read from his handheld computer.

“Seven life signs.” He magnified. “Two and five, G deck Zone fourteen.”  
“Let's take a closer look.”  
“Be careful. I don't like this!”  
“It could just be the ship's crew.”  
“These ships are automated. There shouldn't be any crews!”  
“Maybe just a few customers taking a break.”  
“Do you see any ship?”

They made a flyby around the vending ship, along its docking bay was a tow ship.

“Ardin!” Yawen gasped.  
“There are a lot of tow ships, just like there are a lot of YT-1300s.”  
“Let's take a closer look.”  
“Now wait a minute princess, there could be a lot of dangerous people in there. Murderers, rapists…”  
“So what will be your plan, soldier boy?” asked Yawen, annoyed by his negative attitude.  
“I would turn around and go home!”

Jonah leaned back lazily, placed his feet on the table. Yawen kicked the chair's lever and the back dropped, Jonah fell on the floor head first.

"Ouch!!" He cried.  
“I meant the plan to get inside the ship.”

They docked the shuttle and opened a channel. Yawen spoke on the radio:

“This is Ava One, may I speak to the onboard person in charge.”  
No answer, she tried again.  
“This is Ava One, I want to …”  
“DO NOT DOCK YOUR SHIP! HOSTILE SITUATION ON BOARD! I REPEAT! HOSTILE SITUATION…” Cass's voice broke out, cut off by gun fire in the background.

“CASS!” Her heart raced, almost in tears. “Cass! Can you hear me? Ardin?” There were no more responds. “We must go and help them!”  
“Is that an order, princess?”  
“YES!” She yelled.  
“Then I'll go and help. YOU, stay!” Jonah said as if giving order to a dog.  
“They are outnumbered!” She followed Jonah to the lower deck inventory.

“My priority is to keep you safe.” said Jonah gearing up. “You stay in the ship and lock the door. If I don't return, you take off and fly right back to Juvilien.”

In full combat armor, Jonah had his rifle and sidearm locked and loaded. He turned and found Yawen suiting up.

“What are you doing?”  
“I'm going in there.” She fitted her last armor and gearing weapons.  
“This is not a playground. It's a kill zone, and I'm not talking about the kind that you die three times and start over.”  
“What? D'you think I don't know how to work a gun?”

She slapped in the power cell and off the safety. Not military trained, observed Jonah, but well handled.

“Alright. Make this clear! On this ship you are in charge. Out there, I am. Do we understand each other?”  
“Crystal!” She put on the helmet and slapped down the visor.

At the center of the shopping mall, Cass was trapped behind a water fountain. Blasters shot all around him leaving no room for escape.

“That's just real great!” He yelled.  
“Oh? Did you forget to check that there's a GUN STORE in the mall?” Ardin yelled back next to him.

All their well laid plans blown away, as the criminals discovered an armory store in the mall, and had two full weeks to make all kinds of weapons using the ships resources.

“What're we gonna do now?”  
“Maybe we can talk them out!” Cass fired back.

Suddenly a new line of fire joined, this one came from the docking direction.

“Shit! They've boarded. Someone's gonna get hurt!” Cass dodged a blast.  
“Better them than us!” Ardin said.

The new party had more firepower, their rifles fired rapidly, shooting through everything in their way.

“Loading!” Yawen duck down and reload her cell.  
“Advancing!” Jonah cover fired.

The two continued to switch positions, when one fire, the other advanced, giving their enemies no chance to counter fire.

Watching from the fountain, Ardin saw two people in deep blue armor advancing with their high power blasters, drawing away the prisoner's firepower.

“Let's get out of here!” She yelled.  
“No! They are bonus dead OR live!”  
“You're still thinking that NOW?”  
“Why else were we here the first place?”  
“We're here because you forgot to check that there's a shop full of armory enough to take down a team of Stormtroopers!”

An energy beam hit the side of Yawen's helmet, burned her visor to black.

“To hell with this!” Yawen took off her helmet, dropping the rifle and launched herself over a barricade.  
“Hey WAIT!” Jonah yelled, firing rapidly to draw fire away from her.

Leaped to the high ground and landed in the middle of the last three criminals, Yawen pushed the first one's gun barrel to the other, twisted the gun and forced his finger to jammed down the trigger, laser blast fired wildly and shot down his associate, while she kicked the third man right in his throat. Finally she disarmed the last man with slip second technique, he was down on the ground looking up the barrel of his own blaster.

Gun smoke settled, she gave a last kick to put the man out of conscious.

“Auri!” Jonah ran up and called her public name. She didn't hear him, her eyes were fixed on the two figures behind the fountain.

“CASS!” She threw down the gun and ran to him, hugged him tight and kissed him.  
“Cass?” Ardin gave a judgmental stare. “Who is this girl?”  
“Ardin!” Before she could react, the girl hugged her so tight she couldn't breathe.  
“Easy young lady!” said Ardin in confusion.

Cass smeared off the wetness from the kiss, had no idea who this dark hair girl was.

“We've been looking all over for you!” said the girl excitedly.  
“Looking for us because?”  
“Don't you remember me? We had burgers with the Chief!”  
“NO!” Cass widened his eyes. “AURI?”

Put away all coolness and swagger, Cass hugged her in tears.

“Look at you! All grown up!”  
“My goodness Auri! What have you become?” Ardin joined the hugging party.

The three reunited with joy, leaving Jonah at the far corner.  
“Uh… I'm still here.”  
“Sorry, who are you?” Cass looked and asked.  
“The guy who just saved your ass!” He said waving his rifle. “But apparently you guys need some time alone.”  
“Wait! Jonah!” called Yawen.  
“I'll be …” Jonah ran his finger down a half burned directory. “…at the bar, on C Deck.”  
“No, wait!” Yawen took Cass's and Ardin's hands. “Let's go together!”

She told them everything, who she was, where she'd been, even showed the tattoo branded by her owner. Cass, Ardin, Jonah, none of them took it in well.

“I'm so sorry!” said Cass. “I shouldn't let you go. I tried to find you but you were gone.”  
“It was my fault.” Yawen touched his hand. “I was lost. But now I'm here.”  
“You don't know how much Cass missed you. He named the ship after you!” Ardin took a sip of beer and said.  
“Really?” Yawen's eyes widened.  
“I told you I had a name.” smiled Cass.  
“And if I would have stayed, you would have told me.” She repeated his words from many years ago. Who would have thought a split moment decision would make so much difference?

“So what now? Princess Yawen?” Cass addressed her for the very first time.  
“Auri. Still just Auri.”  
“Alright servant girl.” He asked again. “What now?”  
“Well,” Jonah stood and went to the bar table, helping himself to drinks. “I'm going home!”  
“You what?”  
“You heard me, princess! I have accomplished my mission. You've found your ship, and your friends. My duty is complete.” Jonah made a dramatic bow.

Yawen thought for a moment, stood up and said:

“You're right.” She said. “You'll take the shuttle home. I will stay with Cass.”  
“Wait! You're not going back?” Cass asked.  
“Only if you want me to.” Yawen turned back to him.  
“Don't get me wrong. I'll love to have you here! But what about your people? Wouldn't you need to show up regularly and wave or something?”  
“That's precisely why I don't want to go back.”  
“The lady's right!” said Jonah refilled his drink. “Not much to go back to. No offense, my princess!”  
“None taken.” Replied Yawen. “I want to be out here. I want to fly! To shave a planet!”  
“I don't!” Jonah called from the bar.  
“You're relieved!” She said, then back to Cass. “So what do you say? Would you let me in?”

Cass and Ardin exchanged looks.

“Well, there are these fugitives that we need to sell to the bounty hunters.”  
“Great! Where are they?”  
“You've just killed them.” replied Cass.

Astrid the iron droid put all the bodies in a cargo, loaded them onto Cass's light freighter. He will take them to the rendezvous point, when Ardin tow the vending ship to a chop shop in another star system.

“You take care of the old man now, don't let him get into anymore trouble. D'you hear?”  
“Yes mom!” Cass and Yawen both answered with giggles.


	18. Breadcrumbs

Chapter 18: Breadcrumbs  
The meeting point was Tatoonie, a dry desert planet out of Imperial jurisdiction.

“You wouldn't want to get down there, princess.” Jonah spoke from his shuttle. “It runs by the Hurts. Not the nicest people in the galaxy.”  
“No problem, I'll just take you for a spin, while Cass make the exchange.” replied Yawen from the freighter.  
“Don't worry, this guy's father, we go way back!” said Cass. “But just in case, you can be our eyes and ears.”

Yawen brought the freighter into atmosphere, excited to fly a ship in her name AURI, a beat up old ship looks like it was assembled in the junkyard, but she loved it. High up the sky they saw their buyer, a lone ranger stood beside a ship in the shape of a frog fish. They landed the freighter and lowered the ramp.

“Cass!” A dark skin boy in armor came up to waving.  
“Boba!” Cass went down and hug him. “Look at you! Taking up your old man's job!”  
“The suit fits.” He laughed. “So they're all dead?”  
“Sorry, I tried very hard to miss! They just kept coming to my line of fire.”

Cass ran the freighter's loading arm to bring out the cases.

“Eleven bodies, all vacuumed for long flights.”  
“Twelve!” The boy said. Cass turned found himself at gunpoint.  
“Boba.” He said, not sure how to react.  
“You are on the list too.” said the boy, his hand firmed on the gun.  
“Don't do this.” Cass tried to remain calm, looked up at the cockpit and shook his head.

“Hold! Hold! Hold!” Yawen ordered.  
“Are you sure? I can shoot this little brat's gun off, without killing him.”

Jonah replied from far up. He was in his space suit, lay flat on the outer hull of his shuttle, looking thirty thousand feet down the planet's surface, armed with a precision long range sniper rifle, capable of hitting a beer can in much further range.

“Cass says HOLD!” Yawen repeated.

The boy had his gun fixed on Cass, focused. Then he smiled.

“Say I buy them for half the price.”  
“Twenty percent!” Cass said.  
“Done!” He lowered his gun and they laughed again.

“You need to stand up for yourself, Boba.” Cass padded the boy's shoulder. “You could have walked away with forty five!”  
“I could have walked away paying nothing! But then where else will you get your pensions?”  
“Hey! Don't get cheeky and help me load them up!”

The boy's ship did not have a loading arm, so they had to carry the cases by hand. Cass regretted not landing closer to the ship.

“Just out of curiosity, how much is the price on my head?” Cass finished loading the last case.  
“Look it up!” Boba handed him a handheld computer. “But you'll be disappointed!”  
“That's it? That won't even cover for fuel!”  
“You were famous years back, when you were wanted by the Empire.” The boy laughed.  
“What happened to that?”  
“They had a shelf life policy, you only stay on record for four years, after that you're off the shelf.”

* * *

“SHELF LIFE! They actually called it that?” Yawen ask.  
“Sorry old man! You are obsolete!” Jonah laughed so hard tears came out of his eyes.  
“Screw you!” Cass cursed, swallowed his beer hard.

They celebrated in a bar in town. Tatoonie's population was a high mixed of every race, easy to blend in, until a tall Twi'leks girl bumped into Yawen with her long head tails.

“Hey, do you fight?” The purple Twi'leks turned and asked as if by accident.  
“Do I what?”  
“You were in the Ring. Ava right?”  
“I think you've got the wrong person.” Yawen said, her eyes alerted.  
“No, I'm pretty sure!” said the purple girl. “I watched every one of them!”  
“What do you want?”  
“I wanna see if you are as good as you were.”

Cass and Jonah both had their hands on their guns, ready to draw, but not before they felt the barrels poked at their back.

“Easy boys.” A woman said from behind. Suddenly the table was surrounded by female Twi'leks of blue and purple.

“What do you want?” Yawen narrowed her eyes.  
“A little foreplay.”  
“How many?”  
“Four of us.”  
“Time and rounds?”  
“Two and one.”  
“Sport or kill?”  
“We are civilize people. We just want a little fun, girl.”

After a series of professional questions, Yawen finished her beer and stood up.

“Lead the way.”  
“Are you sure about this?” Cass asked.  
“Of course I am!” She said.

They were brought to another bar not far away. This one a fight bar, the crowd were already cheering, placing bets on the two girls fighting in the ring.

“I'm not happy about this.” Cass said, looking at the two fought violently.

Yawen removed her jacket and shoes and stepped into an empty ring. On the opposite corner, all four Twi'leks stepped in together.

“Wait a minute! There's four of them!” Cass said.  
“This is gonna be good!” Jonah smiled and explained.

“Four of us.” meant the total number of opponents, a mix fight.  
“Two and one.” Two minutes of one round.  
“Sport or kill.” Sport was training mode, when fighters produce non-fatal injuries. Kill is game mode, where they fight to the death.

“Two minutes? She's not gonna last ONE!” Cass panicked.  
“This I want to see!” Jonah smiled in confidence.

The bell rang, the four girls already had Yawen surrounded, but the one got too close already received her elbow to the face.

“You call that NON-FATAL?” Cass yelled.  
“One down!” Jonah cheered.

The next girl moved in, throwing a punch toward Yawen, she dodged and swung her fist into her abdomen, at the same time bringing her legs to the opposite one. The last girl took the opportunity to make her attack, knocking Yawen backward into the air. She leaped and come down with her knee, aiming at the human girl below.

Yawen rolled to the side, swiped her leg across, kicked the second girl on her kneecaps. The Twi'lets girl dropped down in pain.

“Two down!” Jonah counted. “I really should have placed a bet!”

The two remaining girls had Yawen between them, attacking at the same time. Yawen let them close in, until they were too close in risk hitting one another, then she moved with lightning speed, her arm extended to the left, made hook on the Twi'leks girl's neck, swung her towards her partner. BANG! The two knocked each other out with their heads.

“One minute!” Yawen stood and said. “Do you want to continue?”  
“Now that's the Ava I knew!” The purple girl climbed to her feet, extended her hand said. “Osha!”  
“Ava” Yawen took it and shook, and helped other girl up.  
“Let's drink!”

The crowd cheered and opened a table for them. Cass and Jonah however, were not invited.

“I can't believe that was the same girl I knew.” Cass sipped his new beer.  
“She kicked my ass!” Jonah smiled painfully. “Sexiest moment of my life!”

They were watching Yawen from across the bar, who was cramped on the sofa by her four Twi'leks girls, their gestures more than intimate.

“Cass, you were with her from the beginning. Right?” Jonah asked, his eyes couldn't leave the girls. “What exactly is her social orientation?”  
“Wouldn't questions like these get one arrested?”  
“She's fifteen. In some culture that's the age to have babies.”  
“She was eleven on the few days we met.” He threw him a look.  
“Must be devastated for a girl of her age. I was on the outpost when it happened.”  
“You can't plan too far ahead nowadays. War broke out, shit happens!”

* * *

Yawen woke up in the night, something in the air what wasn't right. Her instincts told her to move.

KEEP MOVING TO STAY ALIVE!

She dressed up and left the Twi'leks girls house, by time she was out on the street there were four shadows surrounded her.

“Time to go home. Ava.”

She recognized the voice. Her Master had sent his specialist after all. They called him the Hound, nobody knew his real name, or maybe those who knew were all dead. He helped El Shari to find his runaway girls, he brought back every one of them, dead or alive.

“I've told Master I'm not going back.” said Yawen, her mind gone high alert.  
“Don't make it difficult, Ava. You know what comes next.” The Hound spoke motionless in his black cloak.  
“I'll like to try.” She raised her guards.

Three of them shadows dropped to the ground, their cloaks fell away and exposed their mechanical forms. They were his hunting droids, able to transform between humanoid and dog form. More than once she witnessed them torn living things to pieces at the blink of an eye, all under a single order from their master.

“Let's make this quick.” said the Hound.  
“Let's make this stop!” said Cass, pointing a gun behind the Hound's head. “Who is this?”  
“He works for Master El Shari.” Yawen said. “He's here to take me back.”  
“Nobody is bringing anyone back tonight. Do we all agree?” Cass poked the barrel behind the Hound.  
“You have no idea who you are dealing with.” the Hound said calmly. “Step aside, let me take her, and no one will be hurt.”  
“You seem to be quite comfortable for a guy with a gun to his head.”  
“I had guns pointed at various occasions, none came out alive except me. I bring her back, or I don't go back at all.”

With one shift of his eyes, the droid dogs launched. Yawen knew their tactics, the first one jumped to draw attention, when the second dog do the real attack. She moved straight toward the second dog, knocking it aside, but not in time for the third dog.

The third dog made it's attack, opening it's mouth wide like a serpent, showing it's razor sharp teeth, before it's head explode in flames.

Jonah fired his rifle again, shredded the droid dogs into pieces.

“Master El Shari is not going to like this.” said the Hound, still in his calm voice.  
“Give me one reason not to blow you away too!” Jonah pushed his barrel to the Hound's neck.  
“You shoot me, more will come.”  
“We won't shoot you.” said Cass. “You go back and tell your master, we'll buy her off him.”  
“She is the prize possession of Master El Shari. I'll like to see you try.”  
“You tell him.” Cass walked up to his face. “Castiel Cox has a proposition for him!”  
“Master El Shari will not negotiate with a low life scum like you.”

The moment he said it, a childish musical tune played inside his cloak.

“What's that?”  
“Looks like Master El Shari do like to talk to you.” the Hound replied.  
“That's your ringtone?”  
“Every man has his taste.”

Cass slipped his hand into the Hound's cloak and fished out the device. Took a second to think of what to say.

“Ossi! You big gamer!” He said. His addressing stunned both the Hound and Yawen, never had them heard anyone speak so disrespectful to their Master.

“Castiel. Just what proposition do you have to offer me?” El Shari watched from the eye of the broken droids. Cass squatted down, looked into the camera and said.

“How about your own racing team?”


	19. Gailron

Chapter 19: Gailron  
They arrived at the grand hall of SHARI TRADING COOPERATION. It was a decent office building line up with other trading companies, all located around the port.

“How did you know Master El Shari again?” Yawen asked for fourth time. She just couldn't believe what Cass had told her.

During the peak era of racing, where racers were kings and racing teams were symbols of rich and fame, any businesses would die to take part.

Osmen El Shari was in the shipping business then, took an opportunity to meet Cass in a press conference and expressed his thoughts. Sensing a low budget, Cass did what any professional celebrities would do, he asked El Shari to speak to his manager. That was the last time he ever saw him.

“So you blew him off? You can't do that! You do NOT blew off Master El Shari!” Yawen reacted for the fourth time.  
“He wasn't a master then!” Cass replied casually. “He still isn't one. Look at all the tacky decors.”  
“That's Loui Garn!” She pointed at the painting they passed. “Everyone wants a Loui Garn!”  
“Exactly! EVERYONE!” Cass emphasized. “Everyone does so everyone should. Typical mindset of tackiness.”  
“Perhaps an Orinean Forsh would be more to your taste?” A voice from the end of the hall asked.

A silhouette against the bright window, Osmen El Shari stood tall in his suit, his hands behind his back. Yawen and the Hound stood upright to meet their master, Cass simply smirked.

“Tell that to your dog. He needs to change his ringtone!”

El Shari turned to Yawen, looking down from his height.

“Ava, how are you?” The girl remained silent, her face full of guilt, like a little girl who ran away from her father. He touched her hair and smiled. “Nice to see your natural color again. You look much prettier in blonde.”

Yawen has removed the dyed from her hair. No point in disguise anymore.

The Hound was excused, the two were invited to the top floor. His office had a full view of the port, El Shari offered to seat, to Cass's surprise Yawen stood by her master, it was her usual position.

“So, what can you do for me. Castiel.” He began.  
“I know you've been wanting a team to represent your company.” Cass began. “What's better to have someone who knows the game?”  
“The racing era were long gone. People moved to bigger games now.”  
“Not gone. Just forgotten.” Cass corrected. “The reputation of racing went from sport to entertainment, idolizing, reality show, nobody cared for talents and championships anymore.”  
“Nobody. Exactly!” El Shari repeated.  
“BUT!” Cass raised a finger. “The real fans are still out there, so are the manufacturers.” He pointed out the window. “And there isn't a day that they aren't wanting to boost up their sales again.”  
“And you think you can do this?”  
“No.” Cass smiled. “You are going to do this!”  
“I'm confused.”

Cass placed both hands on the table.

“You have all the resources, transportation, logistics, customer, but you need someone to line them up, point them to the right direction. Your directions.” His finger now pointed to him. “And I'm going to give you the plan.”

El Shari remains quiet, but his mind raced with thoughts and calculations, then he spoke.

“So you think you can single handedly bring back the game, all by one racer?” He ran his finger along Yawen's side, touching the bracelet that hides her tattoo. “And to take my most prize possession away? You disappoint me. Castiel!”  
“Not one.” Cass's eyes on Yawen. “TWO!”

El Shari's hand stopped, sensing his words, and looked at Yawen strangely.

“In this room you're looking at the only two people who can do a three points shave.” Cass picked up his drink and leaned back.

For the first time, El Shari showed astonishment.

“Impossible!” He gasped. “I want to see it!”

* * *

El Shari lead them to his showroom, where all his proud collections were stored. Art pieces, historical items, expensive vehicles.

“The Grand Formula X2 Sparrow.” The Master introduced proudly. “Fastest speeder ever made!”  
“Depends on who's flying it.” Cass said. “I bet little servant girl here can out run your Formula with any piece of junk!”  
“That's very bold of you, Castiel.” El Shari laughed. “What if you lose?”  
“If I lose, I'll stay and build your team. Auri belongs to you.”  
El Shari nodded with a smile.  
“But if she wins.” Cass pointed out. “You'll set her free, AND I stay and build your team.”  
“Really? You'll stay either way?”  
“I want the race as much as you, Ossi.” Cass opened his arms and smiled.  
“And I get to pick the ship?”  
“Any ship!”

El Shari looked out the window, and just so happened a beat up old YT-1300 freighter flew by.

“I'm not lending my ship to some total stranger!” the freighter's owner argued.  
“I'll buy it from you then! Here!” El Shari pulled out his card and punched out a figure.  
“No! Seventy!”  
“Fourty! It's all it worth!”  
“No! Seventy! My dad left me this ship! And I'll have to run around looking for another ship, that's two days of work I'll lost!”  
“Fifty! Take it or leave it!”

Cass and Yawen put away their snickers before Jonah took the money and El Shari turned to them.

“Congratulations Ava, you've got your own ship!”

* * *

Yawen sat on the pilot seat and ran through the pre flight checklist.

“How did you know he's gonna fall for this ship.” she asked.  
“Timing, servant girl! It's all about the timing!” Cass took the copilot position.

Across the dock, El Shari warmed up his Formula Sparrow.

“Can we out run him?” Yawen looked out and asked.  
“You can! Trust me!”

The speeder took off and shot straight into space, the freighter followed, broke hyperspace the moment it left atmosphere.

“Alright, really to shave the moon.” said Cass. “There's no atmosphere so fly as close as possible.”

Yawen jumped out of hyperspace just barely voided to scrape the moon's surface, its thrusters blew a ring of dust before it jumped back in again.

“Good! Next comes the sun. Stay well away because it's a VERY big sun!”  
“Got it!”

The cockpit view suddenly blinded with light, the gravity so strong the freighter struggled.

“More power!”  
“It's as far as it gets!” Yawen yelled.

The sun was so huge it took a full minute before they could align the next jump. Yawen pushed the hyperdrive throttles to full, escaped the terrifying heat before it burned through the hull, reaching their final destination.

“Wow! That was fun!” Cass sighed. “It was bigger than I thought!”  
“He's not here.” Yawen observed.  
“Then you won!”  
“No! He's not here! He should be here by now.”  
“He's not coming.” said Cass.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“The Formulas weren't meant to stand heat of that magnitude. It'll get sucked right in.”  
“What?” Yawen stunned. “Did you plan this?”  
“You want to be free? It starts by getting rid of him.”  
“No!”  
“No?”

Yawen punched the console, steered the ship around.

“What are you doing?”  
“We need to get him out of there!”  
“You want to save this guy?”  
“I can't explain now!”

She jumped the ship to hyperspace and returned to the sun, once again into the swirl of flame.

“There he is!” She pointed, barely visible was a black dot in a sea of white. “It's caught in the orbit!”  
“We'll have to swing around! It's faster!” Cass said.

Yawen took the freighter around the sun and came to the speeder from behind.

“Ossi! Can you hear me?” Cass called.  
“AAARRHH!” El Shari could only screamed.  
“Stay put! We're gonna get you out of here! Yawen, cover him!”

Yawen rolled the freighter to its side, shading the speeder with the big dish body. Cass locked tracker beam on the speeder.

“I've got him! Get us out of here!”

Yawen pushed the hyperdrive to maximum, made a near escape from the burning flares.

* * *

“I don't understand why?”  
“I can't explain.”  
“Then TRY! This man had been treating you like a slave. You should have left him roast when you had the chance!”

Voices argued between a man and a girl. El Shari tried to open his eyes but couldn't, his whole body felt like fire. For the first time he felt afraid.

“Ava!” he cried. “I can't see!”  
“Your eyes got burned by the solar ray, Master.” Ava's voice came. “The doctor had replaced it, he said you will get your vision back in a week.”  
“What happened?”  
“You got caught in the sun's orbit. Master. We got you out.”  
“No,” Cass corrected. “She got you out. I would have let you toasted you sick bastard!”  
“Ava...” as if didn't hear Cass, El Shari asked. “Are you okay?”  
“I'm okay Master. I'm so sorry!” Yawen wept. 

Under El Shari's order, they were under house arrest. A week later Yawen was summoned into his private ward, the bandage from his eyes were removed, his new eyes were bluer and darked.

“Give me your hand.” He asked weakly.

She placed her hand on his breathing chest. He picked it up, removed her bracelet and touched her tattoo.

“Do you feel ashamed to bear my seal?”

Yawen didn't know how to answer, but before she could, he pulled out a device with his other hand and locked it over her wrist.

What felt like hundreds of pins stinging deep into her skin. She could stand pain, and felt she deserved it for deserting her Master, but when the device opened again, she saw that her hand was unharmed, and her tattoo was gone.

“You are now free.” said El Shari.  
“What…?” She touched her skin where the tattoo once were.  
“You have saved my life, and I am returning yours.”

Cass was summoned to his office another week later, still displeased at Yawen's decision, although she got herself free. El Shari sat on his throne just like before, Cass remained standing when offered a seat.

“That wasn't smart!” He began by saying. “Flying a speeder into the sun. Those things were built light for speed, they are not a muscle ship.”  
“A pilot once told me it's all about who's flying it.” El Shari smiled.  
“You're a sick bastard.” Cass cursed. “The things you made she do.”

El Shari remained smiling.

“Do you know why she saved me, Castiel?”  
“Plain stupidity?”  
“Do you know what fatherhood is?”  
“Would you?”  
“I was a father of two. I lost them in the war.”  
“Everyone lost some one in the war. That didn’t give you rights to send children to death rings!”  
“I also saw many children who lost their parents.”

Knowing he was going into something deep, Cass took his seat and remained quiet.

“When children are lost, they look up to the next adult available, no matter good or bad, and seek parenthood.” El Shari paused a little. “Ava saw fatherhood in me, and you!”  
“Bullshit! I didn't send her to get kill every night.”  
“Did you think I'll send my prize possession to be killed? What did you say about racing? Idolizing? Entertainment? There wasn't a fight that I would put her in life danger.”  
“I don't believe you.”  
“Ask her.”  
“What?”  
“Ask her how I treated her over all these years.”

Cass thought about what Yawen had told him, she hated her master for running slave trades and sick games, but had never blamed him for making her what she was.

“I didn't call you here to make peace, Castiel.” El Shari stood up and went to the mini bar. “I just want you to know why Ava grew attached to me, and you.”

He returned with two glasses, handed Cass one from behind and said:  
“So, a bet is a bet. I set her free. You work for me. Deal?”

Cass, took the glass unhappily, clinked it.

[BOOK ONE COMPLETE]


End file.
